Pauri senior superintendent of police Jagat Ram Joshi asked the police officers deployed at Neelkanth Swan and Kanwad mela area to be vigilant while taking a meeting at lakshmanjhula on Friday. He stressed on police verifying the identities of those who are staying in the hotels, dhabas and dharmshalas. The mela would start from July 9 and would continue till August 7.
Joshi said that the whole mela area has been divided into four zones and 17 sectors with the zonal police officers, zonal magistrates and sector police officers being appointed. Besides, barricades have been erected from the Neelkanth Mahadev temple premises to the primary school to control the flow of the devotees who would throng the temple to participate in the Jalabhishek rituals. All the devotees would be thoroughly checked and none would be allowed to carry hockey sticks and some other items in the mela area.
Joshi said that the assistant police superintendent Srinagar has been appointed in-charge of the traffic arrangements to be assisted by the inspector traffic, traffic police and home guards. The one- way entry of the vehicles being fixed, the vehicles would enter from Chilla-Barrage-lakshmanjhula-Garudchatti-Neelkanth while they would exit from Neelkanth to Garudchatti and then Tapovan of Tehri Garhwal.
Joshi said that with parking space being not sufficient, the cars would be parked at barrage, lakshmanjhula by- pass, Neelkanth by-pass Tiraha, Pipalkoti and the Zila panchayat parking lot. To free the roads of traffic pileups, six mobile motorcycle squads have been deployed, he added.
This aside, CCTV cameras have been installed by the police and the temple committee to keep eyes on the devotees.
The missing centres have been set up in Neelkanth and Ramjhula while the control room has been set up in Neelkanth and lakshmanjhula which would be linked with CCR Rishikesh and Haridwar. The RT sets and hand- held sets would be provided to the vehicles of the zonal officers and the acting magistrates, SSP informed.