Shahjahanpur,

24 June (HS): To protect the safety of 'kanwar' pilgrims going through Uttar

Pradesh's Shahjahanpur district, local police would walk beside them, install

CCTV cameras along the way, and deploy drones for overhead monitoring,

authorities said Tuesday.

Kanwar

Yatra is an annual trip of Lord Shiva's devotees, known as kanwars, who gather

sacred waters from the Ganges during the fortunate Hindu month of Shravan. The sacred water is then presented to Lord

Shiva.

According

to local officials, pilgrims from Shahjahanpur collect water from Panchal Ghat

in Farrukhabad before traveling 160 kilometers to conduct 'jalabhishek' at the

Shiva shrine in Gola Gokarannath.

Approximately 100 kilometers of this route pass via Shahjahanpur, where

the district police will be in charge of security measures.

CCTV

cameras connected to both mobile units and a central control room will cover

around 100 kilometers of the district's pilgrimage routes. Superintendent of Police Rajesh Dwivedi

stated that locations for camera installations have already been selected, and

drone cameras would watch the whole route in real time. Police camps will be

put up outside each police station along the route. Officers stationed there will accompany

Kanwar groups up to the boundaries of their jurisdiction and notify the next

police station as the pilgrims go on. In

addition, Police Response Vehicles (PRVs) would patrol the road to ensure

safety, he stated.

SP

Dwivedi stated that senior officers will monitor deployments based on a duty

roster and will also track their attendance online to ensure accountability. When

questioned if the increased security was due to any intelligence alerts,

Dwivedi responded, There is no specific intelligence input. This is a

normal job of the police to ensure Kanwar pilgrims arrive safely. A tracking vehicle has also been ordered, and

it will be sent shortly.” He also

indicated that traffic along the road will be closely managed. He stated that

because this route is prone to accidents, all vehicles have previously been

warned to maintain controlled speeds and respect traffic laws during the Kanwar

Yatra.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi