Ahead of Kanwar Yatra 2024, Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) on Thursday highlighted the preparations being made by the state administration for the smooth and safe conduct of the annual pilgrimage.
Uttarakhand DGP Abhinav Kumar said drones would be deployed for surveillance during the yatra and officials from central agencies would also participate to ensure the safety of the devotees.
Kanwar Yatra will start on 22nd July and end on 2nd August.
“Kanwar Mela is a significant challenge for the Uttarakhand Police in terms of security, law and order, traffic management and religious faith of the people. This year, the dates have been finalised, it will run from July 22 to August 2.” , DGP Kumar said while speaking to ANI.
Highlighting the security management by the administration, he said, “In this regard, we had held an inter-state meeting of police officers from 8 states on July 1. Officers from central agencies and CAPFs also participated in it… This time, we Will try to use drones for surveillance purposes, crowd management and traffic management.”
Uttarakhand DGP also expressed confidence that the yatra will be conducted successfully.
He said, “With the experience of successfully organizing Kanwar Mela by our forces in the past, the cooperation and support we are getting from other states, we are confident that we will complete this journey well.”
Meanwhile, on the instructions of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, a sum of Rs 3 crore has been sanctioned by the government to conduct the upcoming Kanwar Yatra 2024 in an organized manner.
This amount has been approved and made available to District Magistrate Haridwar as per the demand of the departments for various arrangements of Kanwar Yatra 2024.
In the review meetings held earlier, the Chief Minister had given instructions to the officials to conduct the arrangements for Kanwar Yatra.
Dhami had also directed that in view of the number and arrangements of Shiva devotees coming in last year’s Kanwar Yatra, special attention should be paid to the necessary facilities to be provided to the Shiva devotees participating in this year’s Kanwar Yatra. During this period, he has been instructed to pay special attention to peace, law and order and traffic management.
Kanwar Yatra is an annual pilgrimage conducted by devotees of Lord Shiva to the Hindu pilgrimage sites of Haridwar, Gaumukh and Gangotri in Uttarakhand and Ajgabinath, Sultanganj in Bhagalpur in Bihar to bring the sacred water of the river Ganga.
It is held in the month of ‘Shravan’, which is dedicated to Lord Shiva.
