The capital’s famous Ramlila Grounds that have witnessed many a huge and political rally in the past is now being prepared for a “political show” of a different kind. It’s bustling with activity as scores of men work in the scorching Delhi summer to ready it for the fast unto death that yoga guru Baba Ramdev has threatened to go on just three days from now.
The yoga guru himself who has been unrelenting in his decision to go ahead with his protest sped away to the Ramlila Grounds shortly after his long meeting with senior government ministers on Wednesday. He then spent nearly four hours at the venue of his proposed fast, inspecting and supervising the preparations for his grand show.
The on-going work at the sprawling grounds made it amply evident that the show’s organisers would like to leave no stone unturned to make it a huge success. The sheer scale of the preparations indicate that the yoga guru’s show will be nothing like the simple protest undertaken by noted activist Anna Hazare as he sat on an indefinite fast at the capital’s Jantar Mantar in April on the issue of the Lokpal bill.
The Ramlila Grounds, on the other hand, are set to be turned into a temporary Yog Vidyapeeth like the one Baba Ramdev runs in Hardwar. A battery of yoga teachers, vaidyas and doctors are expected to be stationed on the grounds during Baba Ramdev’s “show of strength”.
Water-proof tenting spanning a 2.60 lakh square foot area to make sure that the nearly 20,000 people expected during the protest can escape the searing heat has also been put up. Roughly 850 fans and coolers have already been installed in the tent at the Ramlila Ground.
A team of 250 workers is busy giving final shape to the huge tent at the grounds that were booked a month in advance to take the fight against black money to its logical conclusion. To ensure that the basic amenities are in place 650 temporary bathrooms and toilets have been put up at the venue, with 40 per cent of them reserved for women.
As many as 500 water taps have been put in place to take care of the drinking needs of the people, while 500 volunteers would be helping in managing the flow of the traffic. Also to ensure that the visuals of Baba Ramdev reach nook and corner of the camp five LED screens have so far been installed. “A total of 500 yoga teachers, 300 vaidyas and 1,300 doctors will be at the grounds,” said Somveer Arya, a spokesperson belonging to the Ramdev camp.