President arrives in Kochi on two-day Kerala visit

Kochi, Dec 19 (UNI) President A P J Abdul Kalam arrived here this afternoon for a two-day visit to Kerala.

Governor R L Bhatia, State Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, other cabinet ministers, Southern Naval Command Chief Vice Admiral J S Bedi, Chief Justice V K Bali, District Collector A P M Mohammad Haneesh and other senior officials were among those present at the helipad at Marine Drive to receive the President.

The President arrived at around 1410 hrs from Tamil Nadu, nearly 40 minutes behind schedule.

Immediately after his arrival, Mr Kalam inspected the saplings planted at the helipad by the district administration on his instructions.

Mr Kalam, who had received reports about three 'gulmohar' trees being truncated on the Marine Drive to make way for the helipad, had instructed the district authorities to plant three times the number of saplings.

After inspecting the saplings, he asked Mr Haneesh about the watering arrangements for the plants.

The President is to attend two functions in the city this afternoon. In the first engagement, he will inaugurate a science museum at the SRV School and then go to the Fine Arts Hall to declare open the Centenary celebrations of the CSI Emmanuel Church.

After a night's halt at the Government Guest House here, the President will leave for Thrissur tomorrow morning. He will return to Kochi in the evening and depart for New Delhi.

Tight security arrangements were put in place for the VVIP visit.

Nearly 1,500 police personnel have been deployed in the city. The Coast Guard was also on an alert to take care of the security arrangements along the coastal areas.

UNI ARC KVV VD ND1528