Despite prior directions by the state police headquarters to Kanwadias arriving here from different states about not playing loud music in their vehicles and the routes they have to take, groups of Kanwadias were spotted in Dehradun going towards Mussoorie on Tuesday in a vehicle in which loud music was also playing. Before the occasion of Shravan Shivratri, Kanwadias from various parts of the country have started to arrive in considerable numbers in the state. With police mainly concerned about the traffic situation, other rules are being blatantly violated by few Kanwadias inside the city area.
About the issue, Circle Officer (CO) Mussoorie, Arvind Kumar said, “They were spotted at Kuthal Gate, where police teams already posted stopped them and asked them to go back. The group intended to go towards Gangotri and had lost its way. We told them, that route they are supposed to take is via Vikasnagar. The loud music was also stopped and we took the lead connected with the system out."
Shekhar Verma, a resident of Jakhan said, “When I was going to drop my kid to the school at around 7:30 AM in the morning, I spotted a group of Kanwadias passing through the front gate of Supply Chowki towards Kuthal Gate. They were obviously taking the Mussoorie route, which the police department like every year has prohibited for them to use. They were also playing religious songs loudly on speakers, which again is a blatant violation of the rules. One wonders what is the point in making all the tall claims and promises every year when the police department continues to fail at enforcing them every time,” he questioned.
It is pertinent to mention here that the few cases of Kanwadias indulging in rash riding and driving have also been taken cognisance of by the police officers. Earlier, on Monday, a number of Kanwadias sat to protest on the Barrage Road in Rishikesh alleging they were provided incorrect information about the distance to Neelkanth Mahadev temple. The police had to resort to minor force to disperse the crowd after the visitors did not heed the request to carry on with their pilgrimage peacefully.
Meanwhile, observers point out that the senior officers continue to claim that large number of force has been stationed to maintain law and order in the state, but the breaking of rules blatantly in the city area of the provisional capital of Uttarakhand presents a different picture.