lakhs of devotees took dip in Ganga and performed tarpan on the occasion of Somvati Amawasya on Monday.
Traffic came to a grinding halt with police arranging next to nothing to clear congestion. Devotees swarming into the ghats from all across the country started taking dip in the holy river since 3 in the morning. Devotees mostly thronged Narayani Shila Temple famous for the tarpan kriyaas or rituals meant to pay obeisance to the departed relations.
However, the pilgrims along with others faced grim on-the-road ordeal as the vehicles got stuck bumper to bumper with police presence hardly visible. The people said there was neither any barricade nor any worthwhile measure to decongest the mile-long traffic snarl. long queues of vehicles approaching Haridwar from Dehradun were witnessed since the morning.