Dev Deepawali: Action against boatmen using drugs while rowing boat

Boatmen have been instructed to display the capacity of their boats and carry passengers accordingly. They have also been instructed to keep lifesaving jackets, torch and a rope in their boats.

Additional commissioner of police (headquarters and crime) Subhash Chandra Dubey on Tuesday said that strict action would be taken against boatmen if they were found rowing boat after consuming narcotics during Dev Deepawali on November 19.

Additional commissioner of police (headquarters and crime) Subhash Chandra Dubey holding a meeting with boatmen. (-HT photo)

Dubey was holding a meeting with assistant police commissioners, NDRF officers, water police officers, and boatmen regarding the preparations of Dev Deepawali scheduled in Kashi on November 19.

“Boatmen have been instructed to display the capacity of their boats and carry passengers accordingly. They have also been instructed to keep lifesaving jackets, torch and a rope in their boats,” said Dubey. “The boatmen have also been asked to behave politely with the passengers,” he added.

Dubey said that NDRF personnel had also been instructed not to ply steamer at a fast pace in the Ganga on Dev Deepawali and said that a tight vigil was being maintained on the ghats.