More than 2,500 police police personnel along with Superintendent of Police (SPs) from 12 districts, including Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram, Krishnagiri and Kancheepuram, will be deployed as part of security arrangements for Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s visit to Vellore town on September 17.
This is Mr. Stalin’s second visit to Vellore since February. On Saturday, he will travel by train from M.G. Ramachandran Chennai Central railway station to Katpadi in Vellore. “The security arrangements are being reviewed daily. No major traffic changes will be in place in the town during the visit,” Vellore SP N. Manivannan told The Hindu.
On Sunday morning, Mr. Stalin will garland the statue of Dravidar Kazhagam founder Periyar E.V. Ramasamy in the town to mark his 145th birth anniversary. He would then visit the Sri Lankan Rehabilitation camp at Melmanavoor village on the Chennai-Bengaluru Highway (NH 44) and launch the allotment of free houses for Sri Lankan Tamils in the State under the first phase of the State government’s free housing scheme. It should be noted that the Chief Minister had launched the initiative in Vellore in November 2021.
Of a total of 3,510 houses in the first phase of the scheme, which is being implemented by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) at a cost of ₹317 crore, 1,591 will be allotted to beneficiaries, covering 19 rehabilitation camps in 13 districts. Mr. Stalin will allot houses to 220 beneficiaries at the rehabilitation camp in Vellore on Sunday.
Later in the day, the Chief Minister will participate in the birth centenary celebrations of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi at Kandaneri village. Ministers K.N. Nehru, I. Periyasamy, K. Ponmudy, E.V. Velu, R. Gandhi, and MPs Kanimozhi Karunanidhi and A. Raja will participate.
Chief Minister will also address party functionaries and the public at a meeting. On Friday, officials inspected the venue for the meeting — a vast open area at the foot of a hillock, around 200 metres from the national highway.
The place has been chosen to accommodate visitors from nearby districts like Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem and Villupuram. Traffic snarls will be avoided as the venue is away from the town, the police said.
