Uttarakhand director general of police (DGP) MA Ganapathy reviewed law and order situation with the district police chiefs in view of the kanwad yatra scheduled to begin from July 10 through video conferencing at the police headquarters on Friday. The state police chief said that the kanwad yatra is a very sensitive matter in view of kanwadiyas being expected to reach Haridwar in their thousands. The police officers were directed to brief the police personnel deputed on Kanwad Yatra about the steps they are expected to take to ensure a peaceful pilgrimage.
He stressed on the Quick Response Team (QRT) and Anti-terrorist Squad (ATS) teams be kept on the ready mode for actions while laying thrust on response time being kept at the minimum. “We want them to plunge into action promptly once any untoward incident is reported from any part of the Kanwad Mela area,” he said. He also asked the police officers to establish coordination with the cops doing duties in the inter-state border areas. “We must ensure that kanwadiyas deposit their DJs, sticks, trishuls and other prohibited items at the police posts to be set up at the interstate border areas,” he said.
DGP laid emphasis on collection of scientific evidences to ensure quality in the investigation. He appreciated the public participation programme being executed effectively in the mountainous districts and directed those based in Dehradun, Haridwar and Tehri districts to start such public participation programmes during the kanwad yatra. He sounded disappointed over increasing road accidents while asking the police officers to conduct checking drives through alcometres in their jurisdictional limits.