50 lakh Kanwariyas turn up in Haridwar

Sandeep Rawat

Tribune News Service

Haridwar, July 22

The monsoonal rain in the northern India for the past one week has failed to deter enthusiastic Kanwariyas from visiting Haridwar. Around 50 lakh Kanwariyas have arrived so far to fetch the holy Ganga jal.

The massive footfall is almost a new record as per the data of the Shravan Kanwar fair of the past few years. The 55-km stretch alongside the Ganga canal from Har-ki-Pauri till Roorkie is abuzz with the chants of “Bum Bum Bhole” and “Har Har Mahadev”.

In the wake of an unprecedented turnout this time, District Magistrate Harbans Singh Chugh today declared Kanwar holidays in all government and non-government schools from July 25 to August 1. The Kanwar pilgrimage will conclude on the occasion of Maha Shivratri when Kanwariyas will anoint Shivalingams at Lord Shiva temples with the holy Ganga jal they fetched from Ganga ghats of Uttarakhand.

Chugh said, “Keeping in mind the unprecedented turnout of Kanwariyas in just four days, the Kanwar Mela administration has announced holidays from July 25 till August 1. We are keeping a tab on the arrival of Kanwariyas to ensure the smooth flow of traffic on national highway. In the last phase of Dak Kanwar, there will be no entry of heavy commercial vehicles. A traffic diversion plan will come into effect with only one way entry to the NH-58 from Roorkee–Haridwar to Dehradun.”

The surge in the number of visitors has forced the Mela police to reconsider its pre-planned security and traffic arrangements.

Haridwar SSP Rajeev Swarup has been inspecting the security arrangements at the core Mela zone, Kkanwar stretch and the National Highway.

Mela police in-charge Navneet Singh Bhullar said, “We have deployed additional personnel at the Ganga ghats. Paramilitary personnel have been deployed at important points and we have also earmarked some specific posts, diversion points, intersections and important public places where additional deployment of security personnel will be done. Specially-trained personnel in the guise of Kanwariyas have been deployed to provide us vital intelligence inputs.”