A record 3 crore Kanwarias visited Haridwar this year to collect the holy Ganga water to be offered to Lord Shiva. Barring a few stray incidents, the Yatra passed off peacefully. Most of the devotees left for their native places from Uttarakhand by Thursday afternoon.
Annually, during the month of ‘Savan’ (the monsoon month of July-August), a large number of devotees from UP, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Bihar visit Haridwar/Rishikesh to collect Ganga water. State Disaster Response Force and water police of the state police won applause from the visitors for their efforts.
Uttarakhand DGP Anil Raturi complimented the police for successfully conducting the Kanwar Yatra. The water police saved 111 pilgrims from drowning. The police helped 1,124 people who had separated from their family members reunite. Besides routine duty, the state police were engaged in social services like providing medical aid and food to visitors.
Videos of Uttarakhand Police elicited great response on social media. Over 45 lakh people have have so far watched the videos shared by the police on its social media page.
The most popular of all is a video of 2 August, in which a policeman is seen running long distance and jumping in river to save life of a kanwaria. The video has been seen by over 46,000 people online. The Uttarakhand Police is thrilled with the public response which it is getting through social media.