The Pauri district administration is gearing up to facilitate the Kanwad Mela and Neelkanth Mahadev Shrawan fair to be held from July 9 to August 7. The Pauri district magistrate Sushil Kumar will review the preparations for the upcoming Kanwad Mela, especially at Neelkanth Mahadev temple in a meeting to be held on July 1 at Neelkanth Mahadev temple premises with officials of all departments concerned slated to attend. During an earlier meeting held on June 6, the district magistrate had directed all the departmental officials concerned to complete necessary preparations by June 30 which would be reviewed by the administration on Saturday.
The Pauri district magistrate Sushil Kumar told The Pioneer that the officers of all departments concerned had been directed to complete their work by June 30.
He said that the arrangements for the Kanwad Mela this year should be better in comparison to the previous year as the number of registered Kanwads and other pilgrims has been increasing by the year.
Kumar further said that the road maintenance were to be completed by June 30, while the hand pumps are to be fixed for supplying drinking water on the July 1. The responsibility for the toilets and sanitation has been given to district Panchayat and in this regard the works are progressing on a war footing. The Mela area has been divided into four zones and tight security arrangements will be made during the Neelkanth Mahadev Mela and Kanwad Mela, added the district magistrate.
Regarding the meeting to be held on Saturday, he said that aspects including registration of the devotees will be deliberated upon in the meeting.
During the previous year four places- lakshmanjhula, Varakhata, Garud Chatti and the barrage were designated for registration of Kanwads. A proposal has been received from a private enterprise for registration of Kanwads for which a fee is also proposed to be charged. A decision on this will also be taken on this in the meeting to be held on Saturday, said the district magistrate while also adding that this proposal does not seem to be feasible.
The Pauri senior superintendent of police Jagat Ram Joshi said that for the Neelkant Mahadev Shrawan fair, the police deployment will include one additional superintendent of police, four deputy superintendents of police, 10 inspectors, 89 male sub inspectors and 10 female sub inspectors, 89 head constables, 457 constables, 50 traffic constables, 70 home guards, 100 personnel of Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD), three companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), one anti-terrorist squad, one team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and one bomb disposal squad to ensure fool proof security during the Mela period.