UP CM Adityanath reviews preparations for festivals, bans meat sale on Kanwar Yatra route
Lucknow (PTI): The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday decided to ban the sale and purchase of meat in the open along the route of Kanwar Yatra during the holy month of Shravan which begins July 22.
In view of the upcoming festivals, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reviewed the preparations regarding law and order and successful organisation of these festivals, and gave necessary guidelines to the officials, according to an official statement.
Adityanath said, "The holy month of Shravan is starting from July 22. During this period, Shravani Shivratri, Nagpanchami and Rakshabandhan will be celebrated. Traditional Kanwar Yatra will be held."
Besides, Jagannath Rath Yatra will be celebrated from July 7-9, Moharram on July 17-18, and Guru Purnima on July 21, the statement said.
In the wake of these festivals, "everyone needs to be alert and cautious", Adityanath told the officials in the review meeting.
He also said that from the point of view of the traditional Kanwar Yatra, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Ayodhya, Bareilly, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Barabanki, Basti, and the districts bordering Uttarakhand are very important.
The local administration should maintain coordination between the districts within the state and between the border districts and other states, the CM said.
"Traditionally, music and dance have been a part of the Kanwar Yatra. Ensure that the sound of DJ, music etc., is as per the prescribed standards," he said.
Adityanath directed that "respecting the faith of devotees", there should be "no open sale and purchase of meat" anywhere on the Kanwar Yatra route.
"Cleanliness and sanitization should be maintained on the Yatra route. There should be a good arrangement of streetlights," he said.
Arrangements for crowd management, route diversion, and deployment of police force and CCTV cameras should be made in time, the CM directed.
Adityanath also said that during the Shravan month, a large number of devotees visit Shiva temples on Monday in every village, town and city. In such a situation, the environment around the Shiva temples should be clean, he said.
Necessary action should be taken in this regard by the Panchayati Raj and Urban Development Department, he said, adding that it should be ensured that banned polythene bags are not used at all.
The places for setting up Kanwar camps should be identified in advance so that traffic is not disrupted, the statement said.
Regarding Muharram, Adityanath said that the local administration should establish dialogue and coordination with the peace committees associated with the Tazia taken out during the Muharram procession.
Taking lessons from last year's Tazia processions when some accidents had taken place, the government directed that all necessary arrangements should be made this year to avoid any such incidents.
"The height of Tazias should be as per tradition. Unnecessarily oversized Tazia, which can cause accidents, should not be included in the procession," Adityanath said.
The CM directed that there should not be any display of weapons in religious yatras/processions in the state.
He also directed that Tazias should be kept only where there is no dispute of any kind.
Directing the officials to keep an eye on mischievous elements, Adityanath said, "Mischievous elements can make malicious attempts to unnecessarily provoke people of other communities. Keep an eye on such elements. We have to remain alert all the time, so that no one can breach the security. Monitor with drones as well."
He said that as the rainy season has begun, the emergency health services should be in alert mode.
"Communicable disease control campaign and School Chalo Abhiyan are also to be organized. It is clear that the month starting from tomorrow is important and sensitive from many aspects including law and order, medical and health, and education. Everyone needs to be alert and cautious," the CM said.
He added that all necessary arrangements should be made in time for the convenience of the devotees coming to the Shravan fair in Ayodhya.
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Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link now fully operational
Mumbai (PTI): The Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link was opened to vehicular traffic on Saturday noon after a delay caused by the dismantling of inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work, a day after the Pune section became operational.
The 13.3 km-long "missing link", which bypasses a section of the Bhor Ghat stretch of the expressway and cuts travel time between Mumbai and Pune by 25 to 30 minutes, was inaugurated a day earlier by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar.
The Pune-bound carriageway of the corridor was opened to traffic immediately; however, the Mumbai-bound section remained closed to traffic for several hours after the inauguration.
An official of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation told PTI on Saturday that the opening of the Mumbai-bound carriageway was delayed mainly due to the dismantling of the inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work.
The removal of the stage and other decorations was completed in the morning. The work to load and transport the material slightly delayed the opening of the carriageway.
Vehicular movement on the carriageway began after all the remaining material was cleared and road cleaning was completed, the official added.
The expressway control room said that despite significant vehicular movement, the access-controlled highway has not witnessed any major traffic snarls since Friday evening, after the Pune-bound carriageway of the missing link was opened to traffic.
The Missing Link project connects Khopoli (in Raigad) on the Mumbai side to Kusgaon near Lonavala in Pune district and is expected to make the expressway fully access-controlled, easing congestion in the ghat section.
Developed by the MSRDC and dubbed an "engineering marvel", the project includes two tunnels, two viaducts and a cable-stayed bridge over Tiger Valley. It bypasses the steep, accident-prone ghat section, where frequent traffic snarls are reported during weekends and on public holidays.
