India clears cows, dogs and dust for Obama Taj Mahal trip

AGRA: As he scrubs the road to India’s Taj Mahal on his knees for less than $5 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 kilometers (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 mobilized 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 site of love.
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 K.K. 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 AFP.
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 organizers 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 tons of rubbish pulled from the nearby polluted Yamuna river in just two days.
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.