DEHRADUN: To prevent any incident of violence during the upcoming Kanwar yatra, police brass of Delhi, Uttarakhand, UP, Himachal and Haryana have decided to ban the use of hockey sticks, lathis, trishul and loud music by the pilgrims. Besides, yatris will have to follow traffic rules and those on motorcycles will have to wear helmets, police said.

Over a crore Kanwarias are expected to visit Haridwar to collect water from the Ganga during the holy month of ‘Shravan’ beginning August 1.

In a high-level meeting at the police headquarters in Dehradun, officials from five states discussed several key aspects related to the yatra, including a separate walking lane for the pilgrims and preventing them from going to tourist spots after taking water from the Ganga.

Playing loud music and the visit of Kanwarias to tourist spots have led to incidents of violence in the past. Keeping this in mind, the police have decided that the yatris would not be allowed to play loud music and stray from the permitted route. In Haridwar, a separate walking lane is being demarcated to ensure the Kanwarias do not block the flow of traffic on key routes.

“A large number of youth come for the yatra and there is a need to identify the sensitive routes leading to Haridwar, so that additional force can be deployed on such route,” DGP B S Sidhu said in the meeting. He pointed out that an advisory would be issued to ensure yatris do not carry the banned articles and follow traffic norms.

UP ADG (law and order) Daljeet Singh Choudhary, Delhi Police JCP Garima Bhatnagar, Karna (Haryana) IG Hanif Qureshi and Uttarakhand ADG (administration) Ram Singh Meena were also present in the meeting.