UP DGP, chief secy review preparations ahead of Kanwar yatra

Meerut: Uttar Pradesh DGP Prashant Kumar and newly appointed chief secretary Manoj Singh on Saturday held a meeting with police officers and administrative officials of western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to discuss the management and security plans of the upcoming Kanwar Yatra.
More than three crore Lord Shiva devotees take part in the world’s biggest religious procession in which kanwariyas travel on foot to Haridwar to collect Ganga water and return to their homes to offer the holy water at the Shivalingas.The yatra will begin from July 22 and the ‘jalabhishek’ in the temples will take place on August 2 on the occasion of Shivratri, said officials.
The meeting was attended by divisional commissioners, additional director generals, police commissioners and SSPs, besides district magistrates. The matter of traffic diversion and mutual coordination between officials of the two states from Ghaziabad to Haridwar was taken up.
Discussions were held with organisers of camps set up on Kanwar Marg, transporters, toll operators, temple committee officials and instructions were given to establish coordination. Also, emphasis was laid on establishing inter-state and inter-district coordination by staying in touch with each other.
Later, the senior officials reviewed the Augharnath Temple and Kanwar route.