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| The Sky Above |
| Wednesday September 30, 2009 |
| Beijing, Wed, 10 am local time: After all those grand preparations, will China's plan to showcase its military might and celebrate the 60th birthday of the Peoples Republic, come unstuck because of weather? As I write this, the clouds have darkened and weathermen are predicting a gloomy day ahead today and tomorrow. So will the organisers pray hard for a clear, sunny day on Thursday? Well, officially you are supposed to be agnostic, so prayers are out. Instead the Chinese, as is their wont, are plotting to tame nature. According to China Daily, the Beijing Meteorological Bureau is well-prepared to tackle the situation. "If any unexpected situation appears, we are prepared to manipulate the weather as best as we can," said bureau head Guo Hu in a press release Tuesday. The air force has prepared 18 converted transport planes and 48 fog-clearing vehicles with more than 260 soldiers to attend to weather-control measures, Xinhua reported last week. Guo said that tonight there will be drizzle, which will not let up before 7am on Oct 1, just before the National Day Parade. The sky may clear Thursday afternoon and gales will hit the capital at night, causing temperature to drop a bit, he said. But the overcast sky is yet to dampen the spirits. Roads leading to the Main Chang an avenue and the Tiananmen square are already closed. The military rehearsals are over and the authorities are clearly keeping their fingers crossed. |
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A student of conflicts, insurgencies and wars, Nitin Gokhale has spent 26 years reporting on military and militants from various hostile fields like India's north-east, Kashmir valley, the Kargil war, China and Sri Lanka, among others. He's currently NDTV's Defence and Strategic Affairs Editor.
