The Islamabad Police and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration have geared up preparation to prevent 'Azadi March' participants from entering the city and continued piling up shipping containers around Red Zone and at entry and exits points of the city on Saturday.

Cranes were seen unloading and arranging containers around Red Zone to set up wall of containers to stop the participants of JUI-F Azadi March if the talks between the government and opposition committees bear no fruit.

The administration has placed a number of containers along roadsides at Nadra Chowk, Serena Chowk, D-Chowk and all other roads leading to Red Zone which houses Diplomatic Enclave, Prime Minister Secretariat, Parliament House, Supreme Court and other government offices.

Official sources said that Red Zone will be cordoned off with barbed wires and water cannons will be deployed to block protesters' entry.

Sources said that the district administration will block all entry and exits points of the city on October 29 if government issues any order to them incase of failure of talks.

The administration will also block main routes linking the capital with Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, they added.

They said that as per security plan devised by the police, security personnel will be deployed in three layers. Police personnel will be deployed in the first zone, Frontier Corps in second and Rangers in third, they said.

The administration has also got the government buildings vacated for accommodation of additional force of around 20,000 personnel, demanded from the governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The administration held consultation about holidays for the government and private educational institutions during 'Azadi March.' The administration will also declare emergency in all hospitals in the city, sources said.

The JUI-F's anti-government 'Azadi March' scheduled to start on October 27, will enter Islamabad on October 31.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019