A spic and span Agra awaits the Obamas, India clears cows, dogs and dust

US President Barack Obama and the first family of America are to visit India for Republic Day ( January 26, 2015) and then visit the Taj Mahal on January 27.

At least 10,000 paramilitary troopers will join the 80,000-strong Delhi police to ensure fool-proof security in and around Rajpath where the main Republic Day function will be held. Unlike in previous years, access to Rajpath has already been closed while roads criss-crossing Rajpath like Rafi Marg, Janpath and Man Singh Road will be shut for general public a day or two before January 26.

"We will do everything that is possible to ensure his stay here is comfortable, is something that he will cherish for a long, long time," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said. He was replying to a volley of questions about preparations for the high-profile visit.

Obama and family will also visit the Taj Mahal. The Uttar Pradesh Government has asked the Centre to provide an additional ten paramilitary companies as security for the January 27 visit of US President Barack Obama to the Taj Mahal in Agra.

Also Read: India to make sure US President cherishes his second visit

A man cleans a fountain at the Taj Mahal in Agra on Wednesday ahead of President Barack Obama`s visit. PTI Photo

The city is also in a cleaning frenzy

(Full Text of Video - AFP)

Suresh Chand, chief engineer, Agra Municipal Council said, "We are always doing these things, but you know when a guest comes to our house, then we have to do something better from the normal. So we are doing it better. Of course our city is always better and always clean and neat, but now because guest is coming so we have to improve it in that regard, and we'll keep it continued."

While arrangements are underway in full swing local traders and street vendors who usually make a living by selling trinkets to tourists seem unhappy with the Governement's arrangements. Shopkeeper Anil Kumar Sonkar said, "It feels good when world leaders come to visit our city, but the only problem is, because of the security we are not allowed to move, we are not allowed to go to the roof tops, to the toilet, shops will be closed. If a normal guy who generally earns 10, 20, 100, 150 rupees a day, he is forced to shut his shop."

Road scrubbers elated that the President of America is visiting

As he scrubs the road to India's Taj Mahal on his knees for less than five dollars a day, Ramjeet beams with pride at the thought of US President Barack Obama admiring his handiwork. "If everything is clean then he will be impressed," said the aching man as he took a rest with another 10 kilometres (six miles) of road still to be scoured by him and his co-workers.

"It's hard on the knees and back," admitted the cleaner, who is being paid just 300 rupees (around $4.80) a day for his part in a massive makeover.

Ramjeet, who does not have a last name, is one of 600 cleaners mobilised in the city of Agra ahead of Tuesday's visit by the US president and First Lady Michelle Obama to the world's most famous temple of love.

Worker employed by a local contractor scrubs the road to the Taj Mahal in Agra. AFP photo

Apart from cleaning white lines on the roads, authorities have been rounding up stray dogs, clearing cows from the streets, and have ordered a lockdown around the complex.

"There are a lot of spit stains and such that need to be washed away. The streets need to be spick and span," said India's former chief achaeologist KK Mohammed, who has guided world leaders around the white marbled mausoleum.

"You cannot have a VVVIP of the world come to the Taj Mahal and let him see that," Mohammed told.

The spruce-up, which comes after Modi himself launched a national clean-up campaign last October, reflects a wider determination to ensure the Obamas get to see India at its finest.

Two Tonnes of Garbage from Yamuna pulled out

In the capital Delhi, workers have been coating buildings and bollards with fresh paint ahead of the Obamas' attendance at a military parade on Monday.

But the frenzy has been most intense in Agra, no stranger to hosting heads of state or royalty such as Britain's late Princess Diana.

The Obamas' visit will be covered by a massive press pack and organisers want to ensure a picture-perfect backdrop.

Pradeep Bhatnagar, chairman of the Taj Trapezium Zone, a buffer region around the monument, said ongoing beautification work has been halted for 10 days to allow dust to settle before the guests arrive.

Suresh Chand, who is in charge of the clean-up, said stray dogs -- a common sight in any Indian city -- have been rounded up, and more than two tonnes of rubbish pulled from the nearby polluted Yamuna river in just two days.

Security beefed up along the Yamuna river near the Taj Mahal - AFP Photo

Another official said cows and buffaloes roaming the streets also "would have to go".

"When a guest comes to our house then we have to do something better than the normal," said Chand, Agra municipal council's chief engineer.

Inside the Taj complex, a dozen barefoot women were busy trimming lawn edges with trowels.

"Obama, Obama," one lady, who has worked at the Taj for more than two decades and earns 100 rupees a day, said with a grin. 

Some 3,000 police are on duty and will conduct boat patrols of the river, said Agra police senior superintendent Rajesh Modak.

Tourists will be turned away while the Obamas are touring the Taj, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved empress who died during childbirth in 1631.

Locals teeming the alleys around the Taj -- which took 20,000 labourers 16 years to build -- said they have been ordered to stay indoors.

A worker paints poles at the Taj Mahal in Agra on Tuesday ahead of President Barack Obama`s forthcoming visit. PTI Photo

Not everyone is happy about the lockdown, with some saying it has made them feel like criminals.

"You can't go outside, you can't go onto the roof, you can't go outside to the bathroom -- it's like a curfew," grumbled Anil Kumar Sonkar, who runs a sweet shop a stone's throw from the Taj.

"We should be open for business and Obama should be allowed to come and sample my world-famous petha," said Sonkar of the sweet made from sugar and pumpkin.

A similar shutdown occurred during US president Bill Clinton's visit in 2000, prompting him to ask officials if he was visiting a ghost town, according to locals.

"We were (then) rounded up and made to stand in a line and Mr Clinton came past in his car and shook our hands," said Sunehri Lal, as he watched children play in a rubbish heap.

With Agency Inputs