Uttar Pradesh police stations to store Ganga water for ‘kanwars’

Crores of kanwarias bring holy water from Ganga in kanwars from Rishikesh and Hardiwar.

Police stations and their respective posts in different districts of Meerut and Bareilly zones will store holy water of the Ganga and kanwars during the Kanwar Yatra in order to replace those that get damaged during it.

Kanwariyas run after collecting holy water from Ganga in Haridwar.(Parveen Kumar/HT File Photo)

Crores of kanwarias bring holy water from Ganga in kanwars ( vessels filled with Ganga water) from Rishikesh and Hardiwar during the month of ‘saawan’. Kanwarias cover hundreds of miles and many times get their kanwars damaged.

In a bid to avoid such situations, Sulkhan Singh, DGP of state, and Arvind Kumar, principal secretary (home), directed the officials to store holy water and kanwars in different police stations and chowkis on the yatra route so that damaged kanwars could be immediately replaced and devotees can continue their yatra without hassle.

A marathon meeting of senior officials from Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand and UP was convened in the headship of DGP and principal Secretary ( home) here on Saturday to draw a detail plan of the yatra. They directed district officials to hold meetings with Kanwar Samiti and Peace committees in their respective districts to educate kanwarias about the dos and don’ts during their yatra.