The Haridwar district administration had taken ample measures to ensure smooth flow of the devotees who streamed in the holy city in their lakhs for the holy dip on the auspicious occasion of Buddha Poornima on Monday. The mela sector was divided into seven zones and 19 sectors and security personnel were deputed at the sensitive areas and major crossings. From the early hours of the morning, the devotees started thronging the ghats of Ganga and it continued till late evening.
The Haridwar senior superintendent of police, Krishna Kumar VK said that with the Char Dham pilgrimage now underway, they have adequately geared up for the heavy rush of devotees. “There is no room for complacency, though there is no outside threat. For us, traffic management and security are the major challenges particularly since National Highway broadening work is still underway. The cops have been directed not to leave their places of duty before their relievers come,” he said, adding that by the afternoon, close to eight lakh devotees had taken the holy dip at Har Ki Paidi and the turnout figure might cross 10 lakh by the end of the day.
The officials were directed to take necessary measures to maintain law and order in the area, including installing close- circuit cameras in sensitive areas of Har ki Paidi, Kharkhari, Kotwali, railway station and Rodi Belwala. Four teams of Jal Police and divers were kept ready for any mishap besides two teams of bomb disposal squad and dog squad to take on emergency.
Adequate transportation arrangements were made too in view of the expected huge turnout of the devotees. Extra buses were put into place as the devotees from Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, in particular, thronged the holy city in huge number. On some roads, movement of heavy vehicles was stopped to avoid traffic congestion. Traffic was diverted on several roads too. The vehicles coming from Dehradun and the hill areas of the state were made to pass through Chilla route.
The vehicles coming from Saharanpur and Yamunanagar were bypassed from Roorkee military crossing to landhaura laksar route.
The entry of heavy vehicles into the mela zone was kept restricted since Sunday night. The vehicles and buses coming from Moradabad and Najibabad were made to move through Nehar Patri Marg along the Chilla route on way to Dehradun. The buses coming from western UP were made to pass from Roorkee via Chutmalpur. Besides, no auto rickshaw and Vikram was allowed to ply on the highway.