GURGAON, July 21, 2013: In view of the upcoming Kawadyatra, commissioner of police Alok Mittal held a meeting on Friday to discuss safety and security preparations for pilgrims. In the meeting, Mittal directed police officers to take strict action against Kawadiyans carrying DJ sets and have asked the cops to forfeit their DJ sets.

Mittal said Kawadiyans should respect the sentiments of people who have lost their family members in natural calamity in Uttarakhand. Moreover, DJ sets spread noise pollution, he said.

The police chief directed the DCP and ACP rank officers to hold meetings with village sarpanchs and DJ set owners in respective areas and asked them to cooperate with the police in this matter.

The camps for Kawadiyas will only be allowed at sites earmarked by the district administration. Moreover, dhaba owners operating from roadsides of NH-8 are directed to paste rate lists of food items in front of their establishments.

This measure has been decided to stop fights between pilgrims and dhaba owners over rates. Mittal said many quarrels on this account have been reported in the past, mainly from Bilaspur, Manesar and Panchgaon Chowk.

For pilgrims' safety, a special lane will be created along the left side of NH-8 with the help of ropes. This will help in avoiding road accidents.

The civic agencies, the Haryana Urban Authority of India (HUDA) and the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG), have been directed to repair road stretches which were damaged in monsoon. Street lights are also to be repaired by them.

Senior officials from police, National Highway Authority of India, the expressway private concessionaire, district administration and civic agencies participated in the meeting.

Source: The Times of India, DT. July 21, 2013.