Utarakhand mulls ferrying Ganga water to states due to Kanwar Yatra ban

Uttarakhand’s director general of police (DGP) Ashok Kumar said the idea of ferrying Ganga waters through tankers on demand basis was being discussed with the police of respective neighbouring states.

Uttarakhand government is planning to ferry Ganga waters in tankers to various north Indian states to ensure that the ban on Kanwar yatra owing to the pandemic does not stop Kanwariyas from anointing Lord Shiva with the ‘holy’ water in their home states.

Traders beating drums in Haridwar to oppose proposed ferrying of Ganga Jal in tankers for Kanwariyas. They also demanded the opening of Kanwar yatra. (HT PHOTO.)

Uttarakhand police is considering supplying the water to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi, from where hundreds of thousands of Kanwariyas travel to the state to fetch Ganga waters from the sanctum sanctorum of Brahamkund, Har-Ki-Pauri, Rishikesh, Devprayag and Gaumukh-Gangotri during the yearly Kanwar Yatra in the month of Shravan as per the Hindu callender.

The devotees gather Ganga water (Gangajal) and carry it across hundreds of miles on foot to anoint the local Shiva shrines in their respective areas. Not just Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, Kanwariyas from as far as Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh travel to Uttarakhand every year during the monsoon season. But owing to the

threat of a third Covid wave, the state government has not allowed this yatra this year and also cancelled the pilgrimage to Char Dham shrines in the state.

Uttarakhand’s director general of police (DGP) Ashok Kumar said the idea of ferrying Ganga waters through tankers on demand basis was being discussed with the police of respective neighbouring states and concerned department officials.

Meanwhile, traders in Haridwar are demanding that the government allows the Kanwariyas to travel to fetch Ganga waters, which in turn provides a huge yearly fillip to the local economy.

“Covid-19 positive cases have declined sharply in Uttarakhand to less than 100 and 35, 000 in the whole country. A separate Kanwar fair standard operating procedures can be issued in this regard so that amidst safety guidelines Kanwariyas can arrive in Uttarakhand,” said Sanjay Triwal, office bearer of a traders’ body.

Mahanagar Vyapar Mandal city convener Tej Prakash Sahu said the tanker service idea was impractical and insufficient to serve around 35 million Kanwariyas, who visited the state during the last Kanwar yatra in 2019.

“Kanwar yatra is an ancient on foot pilgrimage practice so the authorities should ensure it’s held by allowing the devotees to arrive physically,” Sahu said.

Ganga Sabha, which manages the affairs of Har-Ki-Pauri Ganga ghat also demanded that the Kanwar fair was held while adhering to Covid containment guidelines.

“It is about faith, perseverance, pain, physical and mental endurance that the Kanwar pilgrimage is all about. Covid is still a threat but we need to allow festive fairs, pilgrimages with Covid specific safety measures,” said Ganga Sabha president Pradeep Jha.

Last year to overcome the travel restrictions, Uttarakhand Youth Congress had distributed around 10,000 units of canned Ganga Jal to temples and Kanwar related social-religious organizations in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and the National Capital Region (NCR) region.