Kanwar yatra from today, Delhi braces for Kanwariyas

Nearly 2 million (20 lakh) devotees are likely to participate in the annual religious procession, which begins July 4.

With the annual Kanwar yatra beginning on Tuesday, and set to continue till July 15, vehicular movement in several parts of Delhi will be disrupted for 12 days. Nearly two million devotees of Lord Shiva are expected to participate in the annual religious procession, for which elaborate traffic arrangements have been made, Delhi Traffic Police said on Monday.

Vehicular movement in several parts of Delhi will remain disrupted for 12 days. (HT Archive)

Due to the movement of the pilgrims and camps set up by them, traffic congestion and obstruction are expected at several places, including Rani Jhansi Road, Baraf Khana Chowk, Fire Station, Boulevard Road, Azad Market Chowk, Gokalpuri flyover, 66 Foota Road, Maujpur Chowk, Badarpur T-point, and Mathura Road, among others.

Similarly, traffic congestion may be experienced along national highway 8 (NH8) from Dhaula Kuan Metro station to Rajokri border, officials said.

Traffic police said that there would be congestion on NH24 as well due to diversion of vehicular traffic by Uttar Pradesh Police at Apsara border and Maharajpur border towards Ghazipur.

Apart from the traffic arrangements, there will be an increase in deployment of police personnel on the routes designated for pilgrims, and places where camps have been set up, senior police officers aware of the security and traffic plans said.

In a traffic advisory issued on Monday, traffic police said 1.5-2 million pilgrims are likely to travel on foot from Gaumukh, Gangotri Dham, and Haridwar, carrying holy “gangajal” which would be offered at Shiva temples on Shravan Shivratri.

Many pilgrims, commonly referred to as kanwariyas, will enter Delhi while some of them will go to Haryana and Rajasthan from close to Delhi’s borders. According to the traffic police, the pilgrims will mainly pass through nine routes across parts of eastern, central and northern Delhi.

The designated route for those entering Delhi from Apsara border near Seemapuri will be Shahdara flyover to Seelampur T-point and further to ISBT Kashmere Gate flyover. From there, the pilgrims will enter north Delhi and take Boulevard Road, Rani Jhansi Road, Faiz Road, Upper Ridge Road, to reach Dhaula Kuan in southwest Delhi and further to NH-8 through which they will exit the city from Rajokri border and enter Haryana.

Pilgrims entering the city from the Bhopura border will use Wazirabad road, Loni flyover, Gokulpuri T-point, 66 Foota Road and reach Seelampur T-point, and then go on NH-1 and further towards the new ISBT Bridge. From ISBT, they can use the same forward route to reach Haryana via the Rajokri border.

Those intending to enter Haryana from the Singhu or Tikri borders in outer Delhi, will enter through Bhopura border and take Wazirabad road, Wazirabad bridge, the Outer Ring Road, Mukarba Chowk, and NH-1, and exit from Singhu border or take Madhuban Chowk and Peeragarhi and exit from Tikri border.

For the pilgrims entering Delhi from Maharajpur border near Anand Vihar, the traffic police have designated a route via Road No 56, Ghazipur border, NH24, Ring Road, Mathura Road, exiting from Badarpur border to reach Haryana.

Two other routes will be Kalindi Kunj, Mathura Road and Badarpur border; and Kalindi Kunj, Mathura Road, Modi Mill, Maa Anandmai Marg and Mehrauli Badarpur (MB) Road.

The last two designated routes are New Rohtak Road (from Kamal T-point to Tikri border) and Najafgarh Road (from Zakhira to Najafgarh).

Some pilgrim movement will be seen in smaller numbers in several other locations across Delhi, traffic police said.

According to the traffic police advisory, heavy transport vehicles will be diverted by the Uttar Pradesh Police from Mohan Nagar in Ghaziabad towards NH 24. No such vehicles will be allowed towards Wazirabad road via Bhopura border and/or towards GT Road via Apsara border. Similarly, heavy vehicles, except city buses, will not be allowed on the GT Road towards Shahdara and Wazirabad road.

“Similarly vehicles coming from Loni Road (Shahdara side) will be diverted on Wazirabad road to exit from Outer Ring Road while those coming from internal areas like Sonia Vihar, PTS Wazirabad Pushta, Pushta Road will be diverted towards Outer Ring Road via Wazirabad Road to take NH-24,” the advisory read.

“We have made elaborate arrangements to segregate the movement of the pilgrims and other road users and to minimise inconvenience to both the public and devotees. During this period, traffic violations will be checked by on-the-spot prosecution and by photography/videography of violations which will be followed by prosecution,” said a senior traffic police officer, adding that commuters must plan their travel accordingly.