RailEnquiry

Haridwar: More than 25 lakh devotees from across the country took a holy dip in the Ganga in Haridwar today, breaking the record of the past few years. Mela police officials said the devotees were still arriving in the evening till the filling of the report and the number is expected to touch the 30 lakh mark by late night. Since early this morning the devotees began thronging the Ganga ghats, particularly Brahm Kund at Har-ki-Pauri.Traffic moves at a snail’s pace due to heavy rush on the occasion of Somwati amavasya in Haridwar on Monday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar GaurA heavy rush was witnessed at Har-ki-Pauri between 5 am and 6 am and there was a stampede-like situation. However, due to alertness of the police the situation was saved.Talking to The Tribune, SP, city, Kiran Lal Shah said around 1 lakh to 1.25 lakh devotees were present at the Har-ki-Pauri core mela zone that hindered movement.“We instantly adopted the diversion of route strategy and moved the pilgrims towards adjacent Malviya and Subash ghats. Additional deployment of mela police personnel was done with senior officials monitoring the situation. It was by 7 pm that the crowd pressure was eased and serpentine queues of devotees began to move steadily,” said Shah. Meanwhile, a large number of devotees from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bengal and other states took part in the Somwati Amawasya fair.The pilgrims also offered Ganga jal and performed rituals to ‘Pitras’ (forefathers) on the last day of Shraddh Paksha today.Additional coaches of trains were operated from Haridwar in view of the unprecedented rush of pilgrims.Additional coaches of the Ambala-Shri Ganga Nagar Inter City Express were operated to transport devotees to Haridwar for Ganga snan. Similarly, additional coaches of Amritsar Express and Hem Kund Express were operated to ensure that the pilgrims did not have problem in commuting.The Regional Bus Transport, Haridwar Depot, also operated additional buses. Additional Regional Manager Kranti Singh said eight more buses were scheduled to ply on the busy Delhi-Haridwar but seeing more passengers extra buses were plied.Traffic on the National Highway No. 72 and 58 towards Haridwar city was affected due to a heavy rush of devotees.Traffic was diverted via Chilla, Yamkeshwar block, Pauri Garhwal district and via Laksar, Roorkee.