CHENNAI: All roads leading to East Coast Road were choked on Saturday as Chennaiites rushed to get a glimpse of the 10th edition of DefExpo India, a biennial exhibition on land, naval and internal homeland security systems, which concluded at Thiruvidanthai. Saturday, which was a holiday for Tamil New Year, had people charting out their holiday plans to visit the expo. To their dismay, they were caught in a traffic snarl in the hot sun. As vehicles crawled, many waited hours to enter the venue and some gave up, unable to bear the heat.
“I wanted to watch the air display. I had many plans, but they did not materialise,” said Swethashree, a Class IX student of a school at Valasaravakkam, as her parents were unable to bear the heat and returned home.Traffic came to a standstill on the busy Old Mahabalipuram Road and East Coast Road as vehicles flooded them. Police could not control the crowd and motorists were seen trying to take shortcuts to reach the venue. But many braved the traffic and managed to enter the stalls at DefExpo. The venue was also crowded. “We got entry by showing our Aadhaar card. There was a huge queue,” said Ganesh, who had come along with his family.
At the stalls, enthusiasm was evident among groups from schools and colleges and visiting youth who were curious and showing interest in defence technology.The air and land display were a treat to the youth. However, they were denied the thrill of watching the warships perform exercises.The warships had been berthed in Chennai Port to help Chennaiites catch a glimpse of Indian Navy’s armoury in seas. People also flocked to Island Grounds with their identity cards waiting for their turn to enter Chennai Port and visit the warships.
The crowd had started trickling since early morning. On Friday alone, more than 10,000 people visited the vessels. However, many had to return as they could not be accommodated due to heavy rush.
Indigenously designed and built Indian naval ships — Sahydari (stealth frigate), Kamorta (anti submarine warfare corvette), Sumitra (naval advanced offshore patrol vessel), Airavat (amphibious ship) and Kirch (missile corvette) were open to visitors at Chennai Port.
Earlier, Governor Banwarilal Purohit, who presided over the closing ceremony, congratulated the Ministry of Defence for having successfully organised the DefExpo India-2018, attracting a large number of Indian and foreign exhibitors. The occasion added flavour to the celebrations as it coincided with Tamil New Year and also with the 127th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar, the principal architect of our Constitution, Purohit said.