Kanwar Yatra: Uttarakhand administration to deploy drones for surveillance

Ahead of the Kanwar Yatra 2024, the Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) on Thursday highlighted the preparations being made by the state administration for the smooth and safe conduct of the annual pilgrimage.

Uttarakhand DGP Abhinav Kumar said that drones would be deployed for surveillance during the Yatra and officials from the central agencies would also take part to ensure the safety and security of the devotees.

The Kanwar Yatra will start on July 22 and conclude on August 2.

"Kanwar Mela is an important challenge for Uttarakhand police from the point of view of security, law and order, traffic management, and people's religious faith. This year, the dates have been finalized, it will go on from July 22 to August 2", DGP Kumar said while speaking to ANI.

Highlighting the security management by the administration, he added, "We had an interstate meeting of police officials from 8 states on July 1 regarding this. Officials from central agencies and CAPFs have also taken part in it... This time, we will try to use drones for surveillance purposes, crowd management, and traffic management."

The Uttarakhand DGP also expressed confidence that the Yatra would be conducted successfully.

" The experience of our forces to successfully organize Kanwar Mela in the past, the cooperation and support that we are getting from the other states, we are sure that we will complete this Yatra well", he said.

Meanwhile, to conduct the upcoming Kanwar Yatra 2024 systematically, on the instructions of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, an amount of Rs three crores has been approved by the government.

This amount has been approved against the demand of the departments for various arrangements of Kanwar Yatra 2024 and made available to the District Magistrate Haridwar.

The Chief Minister had given instructions to the officers in the review meetings held earlier to conduct the arrangements of the Kanwar Yatra.

Dhami had also directed that in view of the number of Shiva devotees who came to last year's Kanwar Yatra and the arrangements, special attention should be paid to the necessary facilities to be given to the devotees participating in the Kanwar Yatra this year, along with this, instructions have been given by him to pay special attention to peace and law and order and traffic management during this time.

The Kanwar Yatra is an annual pilgrimage, conducted by devotees of Lord Shiva, to the Hindu pilgrimage places of Haridwar, Gaumukh, and Gangotri in Uttarakhand and Ajgaibinath, Sultanganj in Bhagalpur, Bihar to fetch the holy water of River Ganga.

It is conducted in the month of 'Shravan', which is dedicated to Lord Shiva.