E-Paper
Can’t come to Har-ki-Pauri drunk. Breath-analyser checks soon: Ganga Sabha
Security guards deployed at entry points of Ganga ghats at and around Har-ki-Paudi will be given alcometers soon, Ganga Sabha general secretary said.
Haridwar: Security guards deployed around Har-ki-Pauri in Haridwar will be equipped with alcometers to check visitors and tourists for alcohol if they are suspected to be in an inebriated condition, people familiar with the matter said.
The decision comes in wake of several incidents over the past few months of some people creating a ruckus, commotion, partying and creating a nuisance at Har-Ki-Pauri, considered sacred among Hindus.
Ganga Sabha, which manages the sanctum sanctorum of the Brahamkund, Har-Ki-Pauri Ganga ghats, was formed way back in 1914 by Pt Madan Mohan Malviya to look into affairs of Har-Ki-Pauri, where every alternate six years, Mahakumbh and Ardh Kumbh fair, is organised.
Ganga Sabha general secretary Tanmay Vashisth said while police started Operation Maryada to rein in hooligans at Ganga ghats, the sabha also decided to equip and deploy its security guards at the entry points of Ganga ghats to ensure visitors who have consumed alcohol or narcotics are barred from entering the sacred area.
“Post leniency in Covid curfew in the past few weeks, the arrival of people has increased sharply from other states at Har-Ki-Pauri. And so have cases of hooliganism and anti-social activities. With alcometer equipment, security guards will check such suspected offenders and bar them from entering the Ganga ghats at Har-Ki-Pauri and adjacent ghats,” said the Ganga Sabha general secretary.
Security guards will be deployed to check visitors at the entrance of Har-Ki-Pauri on Upper road, Kangda ghat, Ashes immersion ghat and Mahila ghat.
About 20 security guards will be deployed at various other sites also, he said.
Mahamandaleshwar Harichetnanand Maharaj of Shri Panchayati Naya Udasin Akhada, Kankhal said that in Sanatan Dharma such acts are deemed immoral and hurt religious sentiments and aura of religious places.
The seer added that visitors should ensure they adhere to the sacredness and sanctity of such holy places.
Under Operation Maryada of Uttarakhand police launched in July, more than 350 people have been fined, booked or arrested for creating nuisance at Ganga ghats.
