lakhs of devotees from across the country, including a number of foreigners, thronged here to take a holy dip in the Ganga at Har ki Pauri on the occasion of Buddha Poornima on Monday. locals looked elated with a sort of miniature India presenting itself at the ghats. “It is a throbbing spectacle to see people from different states coming, clad in diverse attires, along the ghats to take dip in mother Ganga. This is the bond, deep and enduring, that has kept India culturally united over millennia,” said a resident of Haridwar.
To keep order, over one thousand police personnel from all branches were deployed. Besides, a dog squad, bomb disposal squad and mounted police were deployed. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Haridwar Sweety Agarwal herself was present on the ghats to inspect things. Amrinder Singh, a local merchant from Jagjeetpur area, said that the authority should be more caring about transportation. “We love to come here frequently to take dip in the mother. However, we are now having problems on transportation. Roads remain congested for hours and our ordeal continues. Presently, it takes much more time than what it used to take previously,” he said,
Due to unexpected increase in the numbers of vehicles bound for Haridwar along highways and connecting roads from Delhi, Dehradun and Najibabad, traffic plan, meant to avoid traffic pile-up, fell flat. Frequent traffic congestion was seen throughout the day, resulting in vehicles remaining stuck bumper-to bumper for hours. As compared to the mammoth number of devotees swarming into the holy city, the number of traffic personnel looked insignificant. Many traffic personnel and beat officers were found sweating in managing things. “We wonder what would happen during the upcoming Ardh Kumbh Mela, given the volume of vehicles we are being forced to encounter,” one of them said.