Trees are being cleaned with water sprays

AGRA: With flags of India and US in both hands, 25,000 school students will be lining up to welcome the US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump during their likely short trip to the city of Taj on February 24.At a dozen points on the route Presidnet Trump is likely to take, elaborately decorated welcome gates will be erected. Besides painting on the walls on both sides of the road, rangolis will be decorated at crossings. Cutouts of PM Narendra Modi and US President will also be placed on the VVIP route from Kheria airbase to the Taj Mahal.According to the sources, the district administration’s move to line up students on the route is a learning from the past. During his visit to the city in 2000, then US President Bill Clinton is believed to have called the city a “ghost town” due to extra sanitization which gave the city a deserted look.Meanwhile, a team of Agra Municipal Corporation (AMC) has launched a drive to clean the Yamuna stretch behind the Taj Mahal. Over 500 kilograms of silt and other waste was removed. Trees are being cleaned with water sprays.The state horticulture department is sprucing up trees lining the road and painting the tree guards.On Monday, the local discom removed loose wires on the VVIP route. Besides repairing of road and footpaths, removal of encroachment, unauthorized hoardings is being done on a war-footing.Following orders of district magistrate Prabhu Narayan Singh, road signals on the Mall Road have been repainted and statues on the roundabouts cleaned. The exterior of the shops and houses are being whitewashed. The colour is off-white and cream to give a fresh ambience.To ensure foolproof arrangements for the possible visit of the state guests to the city of Taj, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is scheduled to chair a review meeting in the city on February 18. He will also inspect the VVIP route.Ahead of the CM’s inspection, AMC deployed over 200 workers for cleanliness on the VVIP route. All the garbage dumps were removed from the route and people were asked to ensure the maintenance of sanitation and hygiene.As per the tentative program, President Trump will land at the Kheria airbase at 4:15 pm. The VVIP fleet will head from the airport to the hotel Oberoi Amarvilas close to the Taj Mahal. The guests will then take a ride on battery-operated golf carts to the Taj Mahal.Trump will be the third US President to visit the Taj Mahal. Earlier, Dwight D. Eisenhower (1959) and Bill Clinton (2000) had visited the 17th-century monument of love.