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Elaborate security for Kavad Yatra

Staff Correspondent

DEHRA DUN: The Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh police forces have drawn up an elaborate action plan to facilitate smooth conduct of the Kavad Yatra , the world’s largest trek of Lord Shiva’s devotees beginning around July 30 from Hardwar and concluding at Augarhnath Temple in Meerut City or Pura Mahadev in Baghpat on Shivratri falling on August 11 next. This, a senior intelligence official said, had been done in the wake of intelligence reports that terrorists might try to disrupt the Yatra.

Under the plan, sleuths of the police and other security agencies will be deployed as kavadias to keep an eye on disruptive elements. In case of trouble, rapid action units will be rushed from the nearest point.

The official urged the kavadias to look out for suspicious people and accept eatables only from persons known to them.

Traffic on the Hardwar-Meerut highway will be diverted through link roads, in stages, after August 3.

This diversion will result in people reaching Dehra Dun or Hardwar from Delhi in more than 12 hours instead of five.

Udyog Vyapar Mandal vice-president Gopal Aggarwal, promising all help to the kavadias, appealed to the trekkers to maintain peace to be able to fully enjoy the pilgrimage.

The annual Kavad trek sees over five lakh saffron clad kavadias singing hymns or folk songs as they merrily trek with the Kavads containing Ganga Jal from Hardwar to perform Jalabhishek at the Shivalaya of their choice.

Although most of them perform the Jalabhishek at Augarhnath Mandir or Pura Mahadev, many of the devotees perform the same in the Shivalaya of their villages.

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