Drone surveillance for Kanwar yatra from today

Sandeep Rawat

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Tribune News Service

Haridwar, July 26

The Kanwal Mela administration has decided to use unmanned aerial surveillance vehicles, popularly known as drones, during the ongoing Kanwar pilgrimage considering the terror threat and for proper traffic management. It had earlier successfully used drone s during Ardh Kumbh this year.

Technicians and officials of the company, which is providing drones, conducted their flight tests in the presence of SP, Rural, Parmendra Dobhal here today. These would be deployed tomorrow at four places, namely the core mela zone of Har-ki-Pauri (Haridwar city), Roorkee, Mangalore and Narsain. The CCTV footage will be monitored at the mela control room. These can cover around 1 km for regular aerial surveillance.

The drones would be used for monitoring sensitive and congested pockets of the district, including shrines, railway station, bus station and important government buildings, the 55-km Kanwar patri from Har-ki-Pauri, Dakmoti bridge till Roorkee and nearby forest terrain of the Raja ji Tiger Reserve.

Dobhal said a private firm had been given the contract of drones for the ongoing Kanwar yatra. The yatra would conclude on August 2 when Lord Shiva devotees called Kanwariyas would anoint Shivalingams with holy Ganga jal fetched from Haridwar.

“Drones will be quite effective in providing foolproof security during the ongoing Kanwar pilgrimage. Already, 1.30 crore Kanwariyas have arrived in Haridwar in a week. Now, Dak Kanwariyas driving vehicles are to arrive and the total number of pilgrims is expected to cross the two crore mark. The drones will come handy for the Kanwar mela force for round-the-clock monitoring and providing information about traffic on the highway and the Kanwar stretch,” said Dobhal.