The government will have to be extra cautious about providing security to the international biodiversity conference CoP-11 that is to be held in the city next month, after Telangana activists announced the second edition of Million March will be held a day before the conference starts on October 1. The administration is apprehensive about how various diplomatic agencies, including the US Con-sulate, will view the situation in the city. “These agencies issue travel warnings that will have a serious impact on participants’ plans to attend the meeting,” a senior government official said.
Attempts are being made to persuade the Telangana supporters to defer the march. “We may have to take the assistance of the Central leadership, if necessary, in this mission,” a minister concerned with the conference said. Senior officials were of the view that the government should inform diplomatic agencies about the elaborate arrangements that have been made to ensure the smooth conduct of CoP-11. Delegates will start arriving one or two days before the event and police will have to manage their security as well as handle the Telangana protests. The government is also concerned about green activists pouring in from other parts of the country and abroad. “Dealing with international activists is a tricky job,” a government official pointed out. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy recently held a detailed review of the security arrangements for the upcoming biodiversity conference.