lakhs of Hindus from across the country thronged here to take a dip in the Ganga at Har-ki-Pauri on the occasion of Somvati Amawasya on Monday. As per Hindu scriptures, Amawasya (last day) of Baishakha (Hindu month) holds significance in terms of religious rituals. However, the enormous traffic pile forced many pilgrims to return disappointed from midway.The traffic plan announced with fanfare came a cropper with things remaining in a horrendous mess, ran the critical refrain.
There are many myths and traditions woven around this festival. The long prevailing tradition associated with the day relates to Hindu married women fasting while praying for long life to their husbands. The festival starts with the holy dip in the Ganga followed by performing the prayer in front of banyan tree. Married women tie roli (holy thread) around the tree. In tune with the importance of the day in the Hindu scheme of things, devotees in their hordes from other parts of Uttarakhand, Uttar pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir arrived via Haridwar-Najibabad and Haridwar-Delhi National Highway.
Notably, to meet any emergency and to ensure smooth bathing during the auspicious occasion, the mela area was divided into 12 zones and 35 sectors. For every zone, one official of the rank of deputy SP or inspector was appointed while for every sector, an officer of the rank of SO or senior sub-inspector was deputed. Besides, around two thousand police personnel from different branches were also deployed to maintain law and order. SP city was the in-charge of the mela.
Traffic was in a mess on the main roads from early morning. One commuter Rajiv Meena, an officer from Rajasthan's State police, vented anger over three hours being taken to reach Shiv Murti near VIP ghat from Doodha Dhari Chowk - a distace of just three kms. He added that none of the officials deputed to clear the pileup was seen on the road when their intervention was most needed. Only the constables were seen sweating to restore traffic to order.
It is learnt that thousands of pilgrims returned from Roorkee and Shyampur without proceeding to Haridwar to take the holy dip with traffic being stuck on the road bumper to bumper. A pilgrim, Subodh Shaya who came along with his family from Ghaziabad sounded disappointed. "We returned from Bahadrabad without taking the dip," he lamented. None of the concerned officials in charge of the mela was ready to comment on the traffic mess that reduced the much-touted traffic plan to ridicule.