The Uttarakhand police have made elaborate security arrangements for Vasant Panchami snan slated for Friday. Around ten lakh turnout from various parts of the country and neighbouring Nepal is expected in Haridwar, said IG (Ardh Kumbh) GS Martolia on Thursday.
Martolia said that all preparations related to Ardh Kumbh Mela have almost been completed and police personnel are all on their toes to ensure security for the pilgrims and others.
“leaving nothing to chance, we are in full gear in view of Friday’s key snan. lakhs of pilgrims are expected to take dip in Ganga and police are on maximum alert to stave off any untoward incident,” he said.
However, police have drafted some changes in the traffic plan, diverting routes here and there to facilitate the pilgrims to complete their holy snan sans a glitch. Besides, as usual on any key snan day, four unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be pressed into service on Friday too in Haridwar. “They would be put to use to strengthen security and myriad other things like crowd management, highway traffic management and traffic regulation on the usually congested areas. This aside, they would be used for parking management,” Martolia said.
He further said that Ardh Kumbh Mela area covers four police stations- Kankhal, Bahadrabad, Shyampur and Kotwali- in Haridwear district. Raiwala police station in Dehradun and Muni- Ki- Reti police station in Tehri district and lakshman Jhula police station in Pauri are also included in the Mela area, he said. CRPF personnel, PAC jawans mounted police squad bomb disposal squads, SSB personnel, BDS from Army and dog squads would be pressed into service to ensure fool-proof security during Friday’s snan, he added.