Lucknow/Meerut, Jul 28 (PTI) Traffic diversions in view of the Kanwar Yatra will take effect at midnight on Tuesday-Wednesday for heavy vehicles in the Meerut zone, and will remain enforced till August 12, a senior police official said.
For light and medium vehicles, the diversions will begin at midnight on August 4 and will last until midnight on August 12.
However, people going from Delhi to Haridwar can use the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor, on which the Kanwariyas will be “discouraged”.
ADG Meerut zone Bhanu Bhaskar on Tuesday told PTI, “The Kanwariyas who are moving from Delhi to Haridwar will first take Ghaziabad, followed by Baghpat, then Muzaffarnagar and then move towards Haridwar. The total distance covered by Kanwariyas from Delhi to Haridwar is approximately 200 kilometres. To ensure a smooth and incident-free Kanwar Yatra, around 25,000 police personnel have been deployed.” When asked what alternate routes people can take while going from Delhi to Haridwar from August 4 to August 12, when all vehicles will be banned from the Delhi-Haridwar national highway, the ADG Meerut zone said, “People going from Delhi (to Dehradun or Haridwar) can take the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor, where the Kanwariyas will be discouraged from using it.” Sources also told PTI that the states of Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh have “prohibited” Kanwariyas from using the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor, the Ganga Expressway and the Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways, as in case of any untoward incident, reaching them will be an arduous and time-taking task.
Authorities have also requested the Kanwariyas to “stick to their traditional routes”.
When asked to comment on the volume of vehicles moving on the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor, Bhaskar said, “On normal days, the Delhi-Dehradun Corridor Expressway sees a traffic volume of approximately 12,000 vehicles, rising to about 17,000 on weekends. Following the traffic diversion, this volume is expected to increase by 25 per cent to 30 per cent.” He added, “There is a complete ban on vehicular movement on the Delhi-Haridwar National Highway (NH-58) from August 4 to August 12. However, this does not apply to ambulances and other emergency services, which will be safely passed through by the police.” Bhaskar further informed that from August 4 to August 12, there will be a complete ban on vehicular movement on the Delhi-Haridwar Highway.
Comprehensive arrangements have been made along the 969 kilometres of road in the Meerut zone, which features 28 major Kanwar routes.
For real-time monitoring and effective crowd control, the area has been distributed into 36 super zones, 101 zones and 439 sectors.
“Artificial Intelligence is being used for the first time to monitor the Kanwar Yatra, and a network of 6,955 high-resolution CCTV cameras has been installed to keep a close watch on every movement of the Kanwar pilgrims on the entire route. These cameras have been linked to the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC),” Bhaskar said.
Traffic diversions will also be displayed in real-time on Google Maps. To facilitate communication and curb the spread of rumours, 239 public address systems and a dedicated social media team have been activated, he added.
Additionally, six temporary police stations and 134 temporary outposts have been established along the Kanwar Yatra route. There are also 256 barricade checkpoints and 74 watchtowers in place to monitor movements.
To handle emergencies, 361 UP-112 emergency vehicles have been activated.
Police have also issued instructions that the maximum height of the sound system accompanying the Kanwar pilgrims should be 12 feet and its maximum breadth should be 10 feet. The permissible sound limit is set at 75 decibels to avoid contact with electrical wires.
“Our priority is to ensure full safety of every Kanwar pilgrim, and provide all necessary facilities to them on all routes covering 969 kilometres in Meerut zone,” the ADG Meerut zone said.
Preparations have also been made at various ghats, which include double barricading, warning boards, NDRF, SDRF, flood PAC, trained divers, lighting arrangements, parking spots, control room, lost and found centres, and watch towers, he said, and added that 150 teams of Anti-Romeo Squads will be activated. PTI NAV COR MPL MPL MPL
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