Elaborate arrangements in place for Kanwar Yatra

Lucknow: Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the annual Kanwar Yatra being organized in Sawan month of the Hindu calendar starting from Thursday.
A police spokesman said that the Kanwar Yatra, which started from Thursday onwards, will continue till August 12 when Raksha Bandhan and Shrawan Poornima will be celebrated. “This year in the wake of security arrangements a total of 151 companies of PAC and 11 companies of Central Police Force (CPF) have been allotted in sensitive districts and Government Railway Police (GRP),” he said.
He said that in the wake of movement of large number of Kanwarias in Meerut zone, Varanasi Commissionerate and Varanasi rural, 13 Additional Superintendents of Police (ASP), 30 Deputy SPs, 309 Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors, 1,250 head constables and constables and 172 traffic police personnel have been provided. “In addition to this, ATS team, AS Check team and bomb disposal squad have been deployed,” he said.
The spokesman said that keeping in view the sensitivity of Kanwar Yatra and Shrawan Mela, the police headquarters have issued detailed instructions to all districts to maintain vigil and strengthen police arrangements. “This year 1,523 Kanwar camps and bhadaras will be organized across the state and the police have held 801 meetings with the organizers,” he said.
He said that there are a total 804 Kanwar routes in the state with a total length of 12,356 kilometers. “There are 4,556 Shivalayas in the state where Jalabhishek will be performed. Besides, there are a total of 332 rivers and Ghats in the state from where water will be collected by the Kanwarias. Shrawan Melas will be organized at 314 places in the state, whose security arrangements will be ensured by the local police,” he said.
The spokesman said that during Kanwar Yatras in previous years total 11 cases of disputes came up and in the wake of these special vigilance is being maintained. “Based on the experiences of the previous year’s UP police have identified 927 sensitive and trouble spots where special security arrangements are being made,” he said.
He said to from security point of view to conduct Kanwar Yatras peacefully the state has been divided in 1,917 sectors, where 1,195 Quick Response Teams (QRT) are being deployed so that the police can reach the spot immediately in case of any untoward incident and control the situation.
The spokesman said that liquor and meat shops, transportation of meat and carrying carcasses of dead animals have been banned. “Round the clock availability of ambulances and health workers is being ensured on the Kanwar routes,” he said.
He said that the traffic personnel are being deployed with breath analyzers. “The local intelligence unit has been put on alert mode to keep an eye on anarchist activities. Adequate arrangement of bomb disposal squad, anti-sabotage checking equipment, dog squad and fire tenders has been made on the yatra routes. Arrangements of local divers along with flood PAC have been ensured at Ghats,” he said.
The spokesman said that route diversion will be done on the various main highways and entry of heavy vehicles will be banned so that the Kanwarias do not have to face any kind of inconvenience. (UNI)