To ensure a glitch- free Kanwad Mela slated to begin on July 10, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh police would set up joint police control rooms at several places along the inter-state border. Informing this on Wednesday, the state additional director general of police (law and order) Ram Singh Meena said that the move would go a long way in strengthening coordination among the police of both the states.
While six such control rooms would be set up along the Uttar Pradesh- Uttarakhand border one more would come up along Uttarakhand - Himachal Pradesh border. This would help them conduct checking drives along the borders to ensure peaceful movement of the pilgrims, Meena added.
He further said that several meetings involving Uttar Pradesh police officers and their Uttarakhand counterparts have been held in Haridwar and Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, lucknow and some other places recently. “Several issues like security arrangements, traffic management, crowd management and strengthening coordination figured during such meetings. Besides, joint declarations in writing regarding the Kanwar Mela were made and shared among the police,” he said.
It is learnt that around four crore kanwadiyas are expected to arrive in Haridwar to take dip in Ganga and collect the holy water to be taken to the Shavalayas in their localities or to the Shiva temples of their choice.
Pushpak Jyoti, Garhwal Range DIG, said that senior police officers, including himself, have inspected various places falling on the Kanwad Mela routes in Uttarakhand and parts of Uttar Pradesh. “Parking space has been developed at many places while CCTV cameras have been installed along the pilgrimage routes. Stress has been laid on traffic management and crowd management with the police officers being directed to do their duties rightly,” he added.