by Tazdar H. Zaidi
The state government will monitor the upcoming Kanwar Yatra with a helicopter and also shower flowers on kanwariyas, an official statement issued here said.
According to the statement, Chief Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh government Manoj Kumar Singh and Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar convened a review meeting ahead of the yatra with officials of different states in Meerut Divisional Commissioner Auditorium.
The meeting was attended by senior police and administrative officials of Meerut, Saharanpur, Aligarh and Moradabad divisions along with officials from Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan.
During the month on Sawan, which begins from July 22, people from Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan walk to Rishikesh and Haridwar in Uttarakhand to collect water from the Ganga river and bring it back to be offered in Shiva temples.
In the review meeting, the chief secretary said that the entire yatra will be monitored by a helicopter and flowers will be showered on kanwariyas like previous years, the statement said.
Singh directed the officials that “good behavior should be maintained towards the kanwariyas as it is the government’s responsibility to ensure safe completion of the yatra, it said.
He said that special attention should be paid towards cleanliness of Kanwar camps and route. Efforts should be made to make the yatra completely plastic-free, the chief secretary added.