A few hours left for the Kanwad pilgrimage to start, the police top brass reached Haridwar on Thursday to take stock of the preparations made to ensure a glitch-free pilgrimage. In course of the meeting held at Police line at Roshanabad, the senior cops asked the members of the force to be deputed for the pilgrimage to deal with the Kanwads with utmost patience. ADG, law and order, Ashok Kumar said that the Kanwad pilgrims would be under CCTV surveillance at all the major spots and three drone cameras would be used to monitor the sensitive zones.
Speaking to the media persons later, ADG said, “The whole mela zone has been divided into 100 sectors, 26 zones and four super zones. Nearly 7000 cops have been deputed in four districts of the State and in Haridwar alone, 5000 police personnel have been deployed.” He said that the cops have been directed to exercise patience while dealing with the pilgrims. The area covered under close circuit cameras has also been extended this time, he added.
Quizzed over the use of the music system during the pilgrimage, ADG said that the pilgrims have been appealed to keep the volume of the amplifiers low. The blaring loudhailers disrupt traffic management, he said.
District Magistrate Deepak Rawat, DIG Garhwal Ajay Rautela and SSP Krishna Kumar V K were among those who briefed the police personnel at the Police line in Roshanabad on the day.