Saturday, 17 June 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
It will be mandatory for all Kanwad Yatris to carry valid identity cards this year. This and other decisions were taken in the 18th inter-State and inter-agencies coordination meeting held by Uttarakhand police with the senior officials of neighbouring States in view of the Kanwad Yatra which is scheduled to commence on July 3 and conclude on July 17 and expected to attract crores of people. The meeting was also joined by CRPF, Intelligence Bureau and Railway Protection Force officers.
During the media interaction at police headquarters on Friday afternoon, the State’s director general of police Ashok Kumar said that it will be mandatory this year for all Kanwad Yatris to carry an identity card which makes it easy for authorities to identify them in case of critical situations like accidents. He said, “We have taken several decisions regarding the Kanwad Yatra. First, Kanwads taller than 12 feet will not be allowed in the State. It will be mandatory to carry relevant IDs. Last time, around 3.80 crore lakh people came to Yatra and this number is expected to increase this year which can go up to five crore. We will use drones, and CCTV cameras among other resources for security and crowd management purposes. The police will also increase social media monitoring to ensure no disinformation is being spread among the public.” He said that he has directed the officials to start preparations for the Yatra to ensure that the pilgrims do not face any problems during the pilgrimage.
The Haridwar senior superintendent of police Ajai Singh also gave a presentation regarding the traffic arrangements, parking and accidents on the Yatra route. He informed that the entire Kanwad area has been divided into 12 super zones, 32 zones and 130 sectors where the police will make required arrangements. He said that the Haridwar police has also issued a QR Code which contains all important information regarding vehicle parking, route diversion, and lost-found cell. He said that a total of 333 CCTV cameras are installed in the entire Kanwad Mela area in which public address system is also installed. The police have started an Intensive verification campaign at the police station level. The deployment of water police has also been deployed near the ghats, as per Singh.
