Gangajal at police stations, facility camps, closure of meat, liquor shops: States vie to roll out red carpet for Kanwariyas

The Kanwar Yatra is an annual event which sees lakhs of devotees undertaking pilgrimage to places like Haridwar, Gaumukh, Gangotri in Uttarakhand, Sultanganj in Bihar, and Prayagraj, Ayodhya and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The Yatris return by carrying Ganga water in kanwars to seek the blessings of Mahadev. The Yatra sees the governments in various states taking several measures to facilitate the pilgrims.

On June 28, the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government prohibited the sale of meat along the Kanwar Yatra route in UP. “Respecting the belief of devotees, meat should not be allowed to be sold in the open on the Kanwar route. The route should remain clean and sanitised. There should be provision for streetlights. Since the weather is hot, arrangements for drinking water should also be made,” CM Adityanath said while announcing the decision.

On July 7, meat shop owners in Noida were asked to remain closed. Officials said the decision has been taken to maintain peace between communities, even as meat sellers called it an “attack on livelihood”.

Noida’s deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Harish Chander said such orders are usually enforced during the Saawan month, when Kanwar Yatra happens. “These directions have been issued only for shops that falls on the pilgrimage route,” said the officer.

Last year, the Gautam Budh Nagar administration had also instructed the closure of meat and liquor shops along all routes of the Kanwar Yatra in the district.

On July 4, the Ghaziabad traffic police said it has procured 1,000 litres of Gangajal from Haridwar for the devotees participating in the pilgrimage.

“The month of Shravan starts on July 4, during which a large number of Shiva devotees take ‘jal’ from Haridwar to Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and border districts through Ghaziabad. Many times, the water falls… and it is considered impure when it touches the ground. That’s why the traffic police sent a team to Haridwar ‘Har Ki Pauri’ and brought a total of 1,000 litres of ‘Gangajal’. It has been distributed at all police stations to help the devotees,” said Ramanand Kushwaha, Additional DCP (Traffic), Ghaziabad.

The same day, Delhi CM and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal said his government was organising camps across the city to provide facilities for the Kanwar pilgrims.

“Like every year, the Delhi government is organising Kanwar camps across Delhi for Kanwariyas where they will be provided all facilities,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi. Delhi minister Atishi said the government will set up nearly 200 Kanwar camps across the national capital.

The Delhi Police said on July 4 that it would deploy around 1,000 personnel and install over 300 CCTV cameras in temples and along the routes that would be taken by the Kanwar devotees.

On July 3, the newly-inducted Jharkhand excise minister Baby Devi imposed a ban on the sale and consumption of liquor on the Kanwar Yatris’ route to Deoghar in the state.