Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced on Tuesday that the state administration’s preparations for the Kanwar Yatra have begun. He welcomed the pilgrims, assuring them of “good” arrangements.
“The preparations for the Kanwar Yatra have begun. We conduct a major meeting in Haridwar every year, and we will have a meeting this year too. Last year, more than 4 crore ‘Shiv bhakt’ arrived here. We will welcome them all and make good arrangements for them,” Dhami told reporters.
Meanwhile, an inter-state and inter-unit coordination meeting on the Kanwar Yatra was organized in the auditorium of Police Headquarters under the chairmanship of Abhinav Kumar, Director General of Police (DIG) of Uttarakhand. Officials from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, CRPF, Railway Protection Force, and the Intelligence Bureau participated directly and online.
During the meeting held on Monday evening, the Director General of Police stated that the upcoming Kanwar Yatra will take place from July 22 to August 2. He highlighted that Kanwar is a significant religious event, affecting not only Haridwar but also neighbouring districts and states, posing challenges such as law and order, crowd management, and traffic management. He noted that while the yatra used to primarily impact Uttarakhand, it now also affects other North Indian states.
The objective of the meeting was to ensure the Kanwar Yatra is completed safely and peacefully with the cooperation of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, and other agencies. After discussing various perspectives, it was concluded that the sensitivity of the Kanwar Yatra has increased.
The DGP emphasized the need for increased social media monitoring to keep a close watch on posts related to the Kanwar Yatra. He stressed the importance of keeping the Kanwariyas on the designated route to prevent traffic disruptions on the highway. He assured collective efforts to maintain the sacred form of the Kanwar Yatra, stating that disturbances in the name of the yatra will not be tolerated. (ANI)