Ghaziabad: The fire department has been inspecting kanwar camps for fire safety arrangements. It has set up 15 temporary fire stations, six fire bikes and 85 personnel have been deployed.Two hundred and eighty-six camps have been set up across the three routes in the city. The inspections so far have been carried out in the trans-Hindon area, Muradnagar, Modinagar and on Ganga Canal Road.Chief fire officer Rahul Pal told TOI that the organisers have been asked to keep a 200-litre water drum, at least four fire extinguishers and sand at each camp. They said electrical wires should be placed in conduit pipes and the connections should be insulated. “The organisers were asked to use gas cylinders with caution and fire exits should not be obstructed,” he said.ACP Kotwali and the nodal officer appointed for the yatra, Upasana Pandey, said her department has granted permission for 286 camps so far this year. The cops have established a window to clear NOCs for camp organisers at the police lines. “We have installed more than 30 AI recognition cameras at Dudhswarnath Temple and Ganga Canal Road to identify anti-social elements among the pilgrims. One thousand two hundred and fifty-five CCTV cameras have been installed every 500 metres along the three kanwar yatra routes,” she said.In Ghaziabad, three routes are used by pilgrims from the neighbouring UP districts and Delhi to reach Haridwar, from where they collect Ganga water in their kanwars for the annual yatra. Pilgrims who undertake the yatra on foot mostly use Pipeline Road from Loni Border to Niwari. Dak kanwariyas, who cover the distance barefoot and sprint with a team of relay runners following them in trucks or on bikes, mostly use DME. A large number of kanwariyas also use NH-34 via GT Road.The traffic police had organised camps on Thursday and Friday at Meerut Tiraha where reflective tape and monograms were fixed on vehicles used by the pilgrims to prevent road accidents.
