The Kanwar Yatra which commenced with the onset of holy Shrawan month will conclude on August 9 on the occasion of Shivratri. With the Kanwaria procession ending on Thursday, traffic will be reinstated on National Highway 58, which connects National Capital Delhi to Dehradun and Hardwar.
About 2.5 crore Kanwarias are expected to offer holy Ganga water to Lord Shiva on Thursday.
It was the last day of Kanwar Yatra on Wednesday. Kanwarias from the states of Rajasthan Haryana, UP, Delhi and Uttarakhand came to Uttarakhand to fetch holy Ganga water of from Hardwar, Neelkanth, Rishikesh and other religious places of the state. This water will be offered in the temples to Lord Shiva in these states on the occasion of Shivratri on Thursday.
In Meerut, most of the Kanwarias who walked to Hardwar and other places are back after collecting the holy water. They will have to stand in the queues to offer there kanwar to Lord Shiva on Thursday.
The Dak Kanwars, who undertake the journey by motorbikes or cars, are also on their way back.
The Kanwarias will now queue up from night to offer Gangajal to Lord Shiva at big temples such as Kalipaltan in Meerut and Pura Mahadev in Baghpat. Large-scale security arrangements by police and paramilitary forces have been made to ensure smooth offering of Kanwar on Thursday.
Like previous years, this year too traffic on NH 58 was diverted from July 31 and no heavy vehicle was be allowed to ply. The traffic will be reinstated after offering of Kanwar on Shivratri .
SP (Traffic) Sanjeev Bajpai said full-proof arrangements had been made for Shivratri.
He said all cuts in roads even inside the city had been closed in order to provide space to kanwarias on one side of the road, with traffic being allowed only on the other side.