Control room set up to facilitate Kanwar Yatra in Noida: UP police

The Gautam Buddh Nagar police has set up a special control room to facilitate movement of kanwariyas through the district, officials said on Wednesday.

As part of Kanwar Yatra, kanwariyas (devotees of Lord Shiva) from different parts of the country collect water from the Ganga river at Haridwar in Uttarakhand to offer at Shiva temples back home.

The control centre has been set up at the Chilla border in Noida -- a route used mostly by kanwariyas travelling to and fro Haryana and Rajasthan, they said.

Besides, movement of heavy vehicles has also been restricted on the routes used by the kanwariyas, a senior officer said.

"A control room has been set up at Chilla border for facilitating the Kanwar Yatra. Movement of heavy vehicles has been restricted from the Chilla border towards the Okhla Bird Sanctuary route also as the route is used by kanwars," the officer said.

A few diversions have also been introduced on stretches that lead to National Highway 9, adjoining Ghaziabad, as it is another key route used by a large number of pilgrims, officials said.

"The police have cautioned heavy vehicles which need to go to the Peripheral Expressway to divert through the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway and avoid going to NH 9," the officer added.

Earlier, Police Commissioner Alok Singh, Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order) Love Kumar and other seniors officers reviewed law and order arrangements for the yatra in the district, a police spokesperson said.

Police personnel in large numbers have been deployed while CCTV cameras have been installed and drones also being used on the Kanwar Yatra routes to monitor law and order situation, the spokesperson said.