Chandigarh, March 28
Wednesday’s semifinal match between arch-rivals India and Pakistan at Mohali is being touted as a big game, be it in terms of cricket or the associated diplomacy between the two neighbours. But the game is proving even bigger a challenge for the officials concerned of the Chandigarh Administration and Punjab and Haryana governments in terms of providing foolproof security to the VVIPs, their list being too long.

Notably, never has the tricity earlier hosted on a single occasion such a VVIP galaxy, which comprises two prime ministers (of India and Pakistan), four governors each from the two nations, chief ministers, Union and state ministers and judges from the Supreme Court as well as high courts. Besides, there would be present who’s who from the corporate world and Bollywood.

According to sources, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will be housed at Hotel Taj where the two cricket teams are already putting up, his 100-member entourage will be putting up at the UT Guest House. Here, about 40 rooms have been booked for the guests from across the border. The rest 20 rooms have been reserved for the Indian VVIPs.. His Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur would stay at Punjab Raj Bhavan.

“Providing safe accommodation for the dignitaries is posing its own set of problems for the Chandigarh Administration. Since the VVIP guest list is being kept under wraps by central security agencies, including the National Security Guards and Special Protection Group, we ourselves are bewildered as to who will eventually make it to the city for the match,” a senior UT official said.

Meanwhile, the four governors, including Nikhil Kumar (Nagaland), Iqbal Singh (Lt-Governor Puducherry), Gurbachan Jagat (Manipur) and SS Sidhu (Goa), are likely to be accommodated at the Punjab Raj Bhavan and the Haryana Raj Bhavan. Besides, guests would also be accommodated at Hotel Mountview and Hotel Shivalikview. Other VVIPs who are likely to make it for the match include Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan from the Bollywood and Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya from the business world.

Chandigarh, March 28
Though the final security restrictions for the Indo-Pak World Cup semi-final are yet to be “crystallized”, the no-fly zone to be enforced over the Tricity on the day of the match may not affect scheduled commercial operations from the Chandigarh airport till afternoon when the match is scheduled to commence.

According to sources, private aircraft and unscheduled operators would not be allowed to fly over a designated area over and around the cricket stadium at Mohali, the venue for the match.

Officials of some airlines here said till evening they had not received any intimation through official channels about any disruption to flight services. The airspace is expected to be shut down only for brief periods during the movement of the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan, which could cause some delays or change in flight timings.

This is for the first time that a no-fly zone for security purposes is being enforced over Chandigarh, which is witnessing increased operations of commercial and private aircraft. Besides several airlines which operate 24 to-and-fro flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Jammu and Bengaluru, a growing number of corporate and private chartered planes have also become the order of the day.

“There are restrictions on flying activity in the afternoon, but the airspace cannot be totally shut down,” an officer said. “The state government and some private aircraft carrying important persons with prior clearance will still be slotted in for landing and take-off at Chandigarh,” he added.

Similarly, the international air traffic route that lies over Chandigarh, which sees dozens of foreign aircraft flying over the Tricity everyday at an altitude of 30,000 feet and above, will not be affected for scheduled operations, sources said.