Kanwar Yatra 2011

To host Kanwar yatra 2011 peacefully is a real challenge for the administration:

By P.S. Chauhan

Kanwar Mela, the biggest religious gathering in north India, only next to the Kumbh, is giving sleepless nights to the police and the civil officials. The mela, also known as the Kanwar Teerth Yatra, begins on the first day of the month of Savan of the Hindu calendar, which this year falls on July 16. During the mela duration lakhs of saffron clad kanwarias wend their way to Haridwar to take the holy Ganga jal in vessels kept in decorated bamboo structures called 'kanwars'. Last year, nearly 90 lakh kanwarias, mostly from Uttarakhand, western U.P., Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, congregated in Haridwar on the holy mission. This year the number of the kanwarias coming to the city is likely to cross the 1 crore mark.

The hosting of the such colossal event has always been a formidable challenge. For the hosting of the Kumbh, the state and the central governments make huge budgetary allocations to create adequate infrastructure and for security arrangements. However, the preparations for the Kanwar Mela are not backed up by such sufficient financial assistance and the district administration has to manage the mega cultural event with its own meagre resources.

"Security of mammoth gatherings of the kanwarias is the foremost concern of the administration," says the SSP, Kewal Khurana. The commissioner of Garhwal division, Ajay Nambyal held a meeting of the top civil and police officials of the adjoining districts of Uttarakhand, western U.P., Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to chalk out a strategy for the smooth conduct of the teerth yatra. The officials of all the five states, through which the Kanwar Yatra passes, emphasized on better co-ordination between the different departments and the different states and also on sharing of intelligence inputs to thwart all sorts of violence during the yatra.

Major part of the police force from all the districts of the state is to be requisitioned for the Kanwar Mela. "Besides this, 12 companies of the P.A.C., Rapid Action Force, The bomb disposal squads, units of divers and sniffer dogs are also being deployed in the mela area", says the S.S.P.. Though as yet there is no intelligence input about any terror threat in the Kanwar Mela, the police administration is taking no chance and is fully vigilant that no terrorist, in the garb of a kanwaria, infiltrates in the teerth yatra. For the first time this year CCTV cameras will be installed at 10 sensitive points on the Kanwar route in the district. Also for the first time, the administration is putting in place public address system, as is used in the Kumbh, and loud speakers are being installed at 50 demarcated places on the Kanwar route from Har-Ki-Pauri to Manglaur to flash any necessary information for the public, the kanwarias and the police. For management of the mela, the entire mela area has been divided into 4 super zones, 19 zones and 75 sectors.

The administration has also decided to take the Kanwar yatra along the road on the bank of the Ganga canal upto Muzaffarnagar so that the Haridwar Delhi National highway in this region remains open for the normal traffic for most of the yatra days.

K.L. Shah, the SP city and in-charge of the Kanwar Mela cell says that it has been decided not to allow the kanwarias to fit DJs and high volume music systems in their vehicles and that the kanwarias will also not be allowed to carry sticks, baseballs and bats etc. The administration has also taken steps to ban the sale of narcotics, liquor and non vegetarian foods on the yatra route. The city magistrate, Arvind Pandey told Haridwar Plus that the shopkeepers , the hoteliers and the proprietors of the dhabas have been instructed to display rate list of various commodities to avoid clashes between the business community and the kanwarias. "We have also instructed the hoteliers and the proprietors of the dhabas that all the food items should be neat and clean and their quality should be maintained", said the city magistrate. "To provide primary medical services to the kanwarias primary medical centers are being set up at 19 identified places", says Suresh Aggarwal, the deputy C.M.O. and Kanwar mela incharge for the health services.

This year the kanwarias will not be allowed to go upto Gomukh, the origin of the Ganga, since the 135 km. stretch from Gomukh to Uttarkashi has been declared an eco sensitive zone by the union ministry of forests and environment. The acting district magistrate, Harish Chand Semwal said that their main objective was to ensure a safe & smooth yatra & to provide maximum facilities to the kanwarias with least inconvenience to the locals.