Rashi Mehta
Ahead of the Olympic Games, French police have set up traffic and security parameters in Paris for the safety and security of athletes, residents and visitors as the Olympics are going to begin from July 26, Friday.
The French have started imposing a lockdown on the large part of Paris on Thursday ahead of the Olympic Opening Ceremony next week on the river Seine.
Village Opens
Ever since the great opening was announced in 2021, many spectators have started gathering to watch the Games. It has increased the stress on the senior police officers.Around 45,000 officers are set to be on duty for the July 26 parade, assisted by thousands of soldiers and private security agents.
A new complex has been built for the athletes, around 40 different low-rise housing blocks to show the innovative infrastructure using water recycling and reclaimed building materials and on Thursday, the first athletes are set to arrive and take up in the newly built Olympic Village in a northern suburb of the capital.
“The major countries are going to arrive on the first day…so are Great Britain, the United States, New Zealand, Brazil, Switzerland,” the deputy head of the French delegation said.
Paris is all ready to welcome the visitors
The City Of Light is transforming as millions of spectators are expected.
“It’s true that our concept of having a large number of temporary sites in the heart of the city, obviously with that, there are constraints, but I feel like people are seeing what we’re doing,” Paris 2024 director general Etienne Thobois told AFP last month.
Many metro stations will be closed the day after the Opening ceremony as 6000-7000 athletes sail down the Seine river. It will be the first time a Summer Olympics has opened outside the main athletics stadium, with up to 500,000 people set to watch in person from stands, on the river banks and from the overlooking apartments.
Residents outrage over the security
As many visitors have started arriving, the security is also high with barriers, causing problems for the residents as they feel they have been closed in. They are showing outrage over the situation for instance, Aissa Yogo, who lives on the Ile Saint Louis in central Paris said
“It’s a bit like being in Planet of the Apes,”, told AFP this week from behind a barrier. “All they need to do is throw us some peanuts.”
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings