2010: A Kanwar story

Each year with Kanwar mela comes numerous opportunities and challenges, Reports P.S. Chauhan:

With the Kanwar Teerth Yatra at its peak, all the highways and link roads to and fro present a kaleidoscope of interminable rows of the saffron clad Shiva devotees. Popularly called Kanwarias, carrying decorated kanwars (bamboo structures), containing vessels full of Ganga jal and reverberating the air with the chants of 'Bum Bum Bhole', interspersed with their folk songs and jingling of bells tied in their feet. Indeed Kanwar mela yatra is a sight to behold. This year nearly 80 lakh kanwarias are likely to congregate at Haridwar during the two-week long Kanwar Mela. It is really a grand spectacle of the manifestation of faith , as Shiva devotees, including men, women , yung and children, march on foot, braving all the vagaries of weather, with Ganga jal with which they will anoint the Lord in the temples of their respective regions on the auspicious day of Shiv Chaudas which this year falls on August 8.

Due to the swelling numbers of Kanwarias it is becoming a formidable challenge for the police and the civil administration to hold this mela. During recent years rowdy elements have also started infiltrating the Kanwar Teerth Yatra, making it highly prone to violence. In view of the increasing threat to the religious gatherings by the terrorist groups, the security aspect has become a matter of concern. "We have made highly elaborate security arrangements to avert any possible untoward incident during the Kanwar Yatra. Nearly 4,000 security personnel, including personnel from civil police, PAC, RAF, the bomb disposal squads, the units of sniffer dogs and divers, have been deployed on all the routes. CCTV have been installed at all the sensitive points and police men in the garb of kanwarias will keep a tab on anti-social elements," says the SSP, Sanjay Gunjyal.

During Kanwar Teerth Yatra the normal life in the city is thrown out of gear, as all the streets in the city virtually remain under the siege of the kanwarias. It also exerts tremendous pressure on the infrastructure. Also police and the officials of almost all other departments are posted on Kanwar Mela duty. "Since most of the officials are deployed on Kanwar Mela duty, they cannot perform their normal duties and to some extent, the public has to suffer some inconvenience," the district magistrate, Dr. R. Meenakshi Sundram frankly admits.

Opportunities

Kanwar Teerth Yatra is a big opportunity. The business community has a boom time during the yatra. The shopkeepers, the hoteliers, the proprietors of the dharamshalas, restaurants and the dhabas, all have a flourishing business these days. In the city, most of the shopkeepers shut up their main business and start selling the kanwar items such as towels, caps, baniyans, vessels for Ganga jal, rudraksh rosary and gift items. "On an average, a kanwaria spends around Rs.500 during his stay in the city and If 80 lakh kanwaris, which are expected this year, it will generate a whooping amount of Rs.4000 crore for the business community," says Kailash Keshwani, the president of the district Vyapar Mandal. Bottom-line is that each year, in one way or other, entire business community of the region make the most of this famous kanwar fair.

Challenges

Kanwar mela adversely impacts the industrial production also. Since the national highways remain closed during the peak days, the transportation of raw material and the manufactured goods from the industrial units suffers. "As containers cannot pass through the narrow alternative routes, production of the factories is adversely affected and cause loss of about Rs.1 crore/day during the mela," says Harendra Garg, the regional chairman of the Industries Association of Uttarakhand (Garhwal Region). Though this year the national highway within the boundary of state will not be closed for traffic and the kanwarias will be made to pass through along the Ganga canal. But this is not going to fully solve the problem, as UP govt. has not yet agreed to open thse canal foot path for the kanwarias that lies in UP.

Brotherhood

Above all Kanwar Teerth Yatra promotes communal harmony. Yatra passes through many Muslim dominated localities but sans communal tension. Also a bulk of kanwars are prepared by the skilled Muslim workers. The members of the Muslim community from Haridwar region remain engaged for months in making kanwars. Rahman Ali of Bijnor says that his family has been coming to Haridwar for making kanwars for the last five years. "We earn about Rs one lakh every year by selling kanwars," says Ali. Babli, awardee of President's Award for Bravery for Children has been helping her father, Shadi Hussain in making kanwars for the last seven years. "Making kanwars is not only a source of livelihood for my family, but it also gives us satisfaction that we are lending a helping hand for a good cause," says Babli.

Fair deal

The much-awaited Permanent Mela Authority would be a reality soon, P.S. Chauhan reports:

Those who have been demanding the setting up of a PMA (Permanent Mela Authority) for Haridwar and Rishikesh have a reason to cheer. The special meeting of the council of ministers of the state held at Malviya

Dweep, Har-ki-Pauri, has decided to set up a Permanent Mela Authority for hosting the melas in Haridwar-Rishikesh region. Since 1986, when Haridwar district was carved out of Saharanpur district out of then undivided U.P., the citizens of Haridwar have been demanding the setting up of a Permanent Mela Authority to successfully host the melas which are held here round the year.

However, the then government of U.P. constituted Haridwar Development Authority (HDA) for the planned development of Haridwar and Rishikesh. But as HDA could not serve the purpose, thus there was a need to have a dedicated authority for the hassle free hosting of fairs. Even some political parties, social and cultural outfits, and the Vyapar Mandal, have been strongly advocating the setting up of a mechanism which may be entrusted with the responsibility of the planned and integrated development of Haridwar and Rishikesh and also of organising the fairs which are held here in 'God's plenty' every year. Besides the Kumbh and the Ardh Kumbh, which are held after every twelve and six years respectively, each year fairs like Kanwar Mela, Kartik Purnima, Somvati Amavasya, Baisakhi and the Urs at Piran Kaliyar, test the mettle of the district administration. At present, temporary mela authorities are set up for the holding of the Kumbh and the Ardh Kumbh, while the task of holding the other melas is left to the district administration with limited resources at its disposal. Mudit Parashar, a prominent businessman of Ranipur crossing, said "Each year nearly 36 big melas are held at Haridwar and the neighbouring holy town of Rishikesh. During these melas the entire attention of the civil and the police administration remains focussed on holding these melas and attending the VIPs. And in the process routine work of the police and the civil administration suffers. After the setting up of an autonomous and independent authority to hold the melas, the civil and the police administration will remain free to discharge their normal duties."Ashok Tripathi, a leading priest of the Ganga Sabha, echoes the same sentiments, "Hundreds of crores of rupees are earmarked for the Kumbh and the Ardh Kumbh every time. However, since this money was spent in haste as a result the quality of work is inferior. If the same amount is utilized with a vision then the mela preparations will be more effective and hosting these fairs will not be a pain. Also a better infrastructure will change the face of the region."

However, a prominent social activist and former M.L.A. from Haridwar, Ambrish Kumar sounds a note of warning, "The proposed Permanent Mela Authority should be kept free from political interference. Prominent social activists and intellectuals, who have a vision for planning and development, should be included in the proposed Mela Authority. If it is stuffed with leaders of the ruling political dispensation, it will meet the same fate as the existing HDA."The sources say that the Mela Authority, which is in the pipeline, will be a high power body, with huge funds and sufficient number of personnel at its disposal. The existing HDA is likely to be merged in the proposed Mela Authority and it will include the region from Piran Kaliyar to Haridwar and Rishikesh along with Neelkanth. It is likely to be headed by the state's chief minister, while its vice president may be nominated from the citizens of the region. The state urban development minister, Madan Kaushik says that the details of the proposed Mela Authority will be finalized soon.