HARIDWAR: Uttarakhand authorities have mandated that store homeowners alongside the kanwar yatra route show nameplates with their particulars. The directive, following an identical order in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, goals to “forestall any legislation and order points” through the yatra, officers mentioned.
Backing the directive, CM Pushkar Singh Dhami cited “previous cases of store homeowners utilizing faux names”.He mentioned, “It is a good choice. Why would anybody cover their identification? The choice goals to create transparency and isn’t concentrating on any explicit neighborhood or particular person. This can be a verification drive, not concentrating on any particular person. If somebody is working legitimately, why would they use a faux title? This could possibly be to mislead others. Uttarakhand has at all times been a peaceable state, and transparency is essential.”
The measure, applied after a gathering on July 12, impacts merchants who collect in Haridwar firstly of the annual pilgrimage. Throughout this pilgrimage, devotees buy pitchers and palanquins to hold water from the Ganga and provide it to Lord Shiva at numerous temples.
Minority neighborhood merchants from Haridwar, Meerut, Bijnor, and Muzaffarnagar promote yatra-related merchandise through the 10-day kanwar mela market held at Pantdeep floor by the Haridwar Municipal Company. “The yatra season is our essential supply of earnings, and we hope it doesn’t take successful,” a Muslim dealer mentioned.
Mohd Rizwan, a dealer and artisan from Meerut who has been promoting kanwars for 15 years, mentioned, “Till this yr, we didn’t face any drawback right here, and plenty of common kanwariyas have grow to be aware of us. I do not perceive why the authorities made this choice, however we’ll comply with the rules for conducting enterprise. Whether or not our gross sales shall be affected or not stays to be seen.”
The district administration in Haridwar claimed this was a “routine order” issued yearly to make sure legislation and order. Haridwar DM Dheeraj Singh Garbyal said, “Sustaining legislation and order is our largest concern, and we took this choice within the wake of such potential points.”
