DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand expects a record 4 crore Shiv devotees during the Kanwar Yatra that resumed today after two years following the Covid-19 pandemic. The state police have made adequate security arrangements for the safety of pilgrims.
The devotees of Lord Shiva visit Haridwar and Rishikesh in the hill state during the yatra to collect waters of the Ganga river and make an offering of it at Shivalayas back home. The state government has declared the 60-km highway from Roorkee to Neelkanth (Pauri Garhwal) as a Mela Zone. The 15-day influx of devotees will continue to the river until July 27.
The state police have deployed 10,000 personnel to monitor the pilgrim progress scanned through 400 CCTV cameras. Five anti-terrorist teams will keep an eye in 38 yatra areas with the assistance of drones.
The police are concerned about the lack of parking in the Neelkanth area, where devotees converge to collect the holy Ganga water.
Director General of Police Ashok Kumar told TNIE that apart from the deployment of forces, a bomb disposal squad has also been deployed for round-the-clock security. “For the entire duration of yatra, we will also ensure that commuters don’t face any inconvenience. We have made arrangements for alternative routes along Meerut-Bijnor-Kotdwar-Muzaffarnagar-Dehradun to avoid traffic chaos,” said Kumar.
The DGP will be personally looking after parking arrangements at Neelkanth.
The police have also appealed to the yatra participants to get their registration done at the earliest.
The administration has made arrangements for parking of 22,000 buses at Bairagi camp, Haridwar District Magistrate Vinay Shankar Pandey said, adding that while government and private hospitals will be ready to take care of the Kanwariyas, 17 temporary medical camps are also being set up to provide medical facilities to them, he said.
To smoothen the challenges faced during crowd management, Haridwar has been divided into eight super zones, 27 zones and 100 sectors, Pandey added. The Kanwar yatra routes will also be under drone surveillance round the clock. Also, no Shiva devotee will be allowed to enter the Haridwar town with spears and other weapons, the DM said.