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DefExpo opens for public with long queues as four lakh visit
The first demo began at 11:30 am but people started pouring in at the venue over two hours before the show.
LUCKNOW: DefExpo-2020 was opened for the general public on Saturday, its penultimate day, but people faced huge traffic jams and long queues and had to walk for kilometres at a stretch to reach the venue.
An estimated in four lakh people from the state capital and nearby districts visited the expo on Saturday when two live demonstrations were held.
The first demo began at 11:30 am but people started pouring in at the venue over two hours before the show. Entry was restricted on several gates that lead to long queues at the gates that were open for public. The visitors were also asked to park their vehicles far away from then venue.
“I had to park my car near Golf City and walk up to the venue,” said Dileep Singh, who reached the expo with his wife and eight-year-old daughter. He said he and his family had to walk for an hour and spend another hour in the queue at the venue.
Visitors also complained about the missing shuttle buses that were supposed to be deployed at the spot to ferry them from the parking area to the venue.
The expo began on February 5 and over 1,500 firms displayed their products ranging from modern weapons, explosives, military grade communication equipment etc.
Rishab Singh, senior executive of Huber+Suhner Electronics that makes fiber optics and low radio frequency instruments used in military operations said, “The defence sector gives us a chance to meet our end customers face to face and understand their demand so that we could improve our products.”
On Saturday when the expo was opened for the general public, families and college and school kids reached the venue in hordes.
“We were not allowed to enter from three gates so we walked over two kilometres to reach the entry gate near Rai Bareli road,” said Swayam Gupta, resident of Indira Nagar who reached the expo with his college friends.
Later entry from the gates were closed when the space inside got filled with people. “We are waiting in the queue for over an hour now but the security is not allowing us to enter because the venue is already full,” said Nishi Kumari, a college student.
Beside the main venue at Vrindavan, people also watched the show put up by at the river front.
A live demonstration will be held at the expo on Sunday before it concludes.
