[rajatsingh78]

I have a planned trip on 5-6-7 August 2011 to Lansdowne and beyond,

I was planning to take the Ghaziabad-Meerut-Bijnor-Kotdwar-Lansdowne, I hope these road blocks and diversions will be over by them.

Yesterday I saw something called as "Dak Kanwar", these are trucks loaded with Shiv devotees, playing loud music. The music was so loud that the base from their speakers was making my car's windows vibrate (there were 2-3 cars between my car and the truck). This is pure public nuisance, loud music, generator inside the truck, what kind of religious offering is this?

[Eddy]

The DG toll is a mess today. Spent 55 mins to cover 200m.

Rajat: The madness ends in July. August first week should be safe

[Irish]

Originally Posted by rajatsingh78

I have a planned trip on 5-6-7 August 2011 to Lansdowne and beyond,

I was planning to take the Ghaziabad-Meerut-Bijnor-Kotdwar-Lansdowne, I hope these road blocks and diversions will be over by them.

Kanvar season ends on 29th July 2011 with "Shivratri Kanwar", the last day to offer holy water of the river Ganges on Shivalinga. After that all routes will be fine.

Cheers!
Irish

[ariesonu]

14 pilgrims mowed by truck in Jalna

» 20 others who were part of procession injured » Warkaris damage ‘killer’ vehicle, spurring police firing » Officials’ cars burnt in mob fury

Courtesy: Mumbai Mirror

Fourteen pilgrims were killed and over 20 injured in an accident in Jalna district around 4 pm on Tuesday. A container truck (MH 38 N 9429), which was on its way from Ambad to Jalna city ploughed into the group of pilgrims who were part of a procession near Lalwadi village near Dabrul Phata. The pilgrims, referred to as warkaris in local parlance, had returned from a pilgrimage in Pandarpur.
Sources said the death toll was likely to rise.
Angered at the death of fellow pilgrims, the group of warkaris damaged the tanker, and later set it afire.
This police started firing to bring the situation under control. That's when yet another pilgrim was killed.
Further incensed over this, the pilgrims, and went on the rampage. According to sources, they damaged the vehicles of the district collector, police superintendent and a police vehicle.
The injured have been admitted to civil hospitals in Jalna and Ambad.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased persons.





Raab Rakha.

[tanwaramit]

Gurgaon toll has been becoming a nightmare this week.

Hence, I have decided to not to be on roads for next two days. Better to work from home.

No one is above Daak Kanwar, which will start coming in from 28th.

[singhsid]

As most Delhi/NCR motorists will verify, the state approved hooligans were out in full force over the last 2 days making driving a nightmarish experience. Some of the common sights were:
1) Kanwar relay races where one dude would run all of 200 meters before being replaced by a motorcycle borne team mate!
2) Slow driving party trucks complete with music loud enough to be heard in the next galaxy and 30 wildly dancing "devotees"
3) Special Protection Group kanwars brandishing hockey sticks, using a wide variety of vehicles - motorcycles, SUVs and Maruti 800s (with the boot open of course!) and god shiv himself would be unable to help

While I am a very proud hindu - what I cannot figure out for the love of god is why does the government allow these people to run roughshod over law & order every year? A good chunk of these "bhakts" are just unemployed & unemployable trouble makers who get their kicks by displaying their misplaced show of "strength". Surely freedom of expression does not imply a license to behave like a hooligan???

Anyhow - hope fellow motorists were able to navigate the devotion season without much incident, here's hoping for relatively peaceful year before the great tamasha begins again

[Irish]

The Kanwar season - 2011 has ended today. Tent owners have started to dismantle the Kanwar camps. So no more jams due to Kanwariyas for the next 1 year. All the routes will be normal.

Cheers!
Irish

[BoneCollector]

Another act of hooliganism-
13 injured in Moradabad communal clash - Yahoo!

[Irish]

The "kanwar season - 2012" starts on 4th July. People planing to travel to the Haridwar / Rishikesh or beyond that shall make a note of the dates because the national highway will be OUT OF BOUNDS during the second half of the kanwar yatra.

One shall avoid this national highway unless there is an urgency. The parts of this NH is closed in phases for example Haridwar - Roorkee will be first one to be closed for traffic then Haridwar - Roorkee - Muzaffarnagar. Then it will be Haridwar - Roorkee - MuzaffarNagar - Meerut. And absolutely out of bounds (Haridwar - New Delhi) in the last 2-3 days of the yatra. Vehicles are diverted to different village routes with terrible and unsafe (in late evenings) roads.


Here is a news article to control the menace created by the most of the hooligans:

Dehradun, June 19 (IANS) In a major move to decongest traffic during the month-long yatra by Shiva devotees, the Uttarakhand government Tuesday announced that Kanwariyas will not be allowed to proceed beyond Haridwar.

The yatra begins July 4 and ends on the Shiv Ratri day of the holy Saawan month.

At a meeting presided by Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain, the government also banned use of DJs, walking with hockey sticks, other sticks and canes and transporting gas cylinders atop trucks during the yatra.

Police have been told to coordinate with their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi to ensure that the pilgrims from those states follow the guidelines set by the Uttarakhand government.

Source: Kanwar Yatra not to go beyond Haridwar


Cheers!
Irish

[Pacifica]

Originally Posted by Irish

The "kanwar season - 2012" starts on 4th July. People planing to travel to the Haridwar / Rishikesh or beyond that shall make a note of the dates because the national highway will be OUT OF BOUNDS during the second half of the kanwar yatra.

One shall avoid this national highway unless there is an urgency. The parts of this NH is closed in phases for example Haridwar - Roorkee will be first one to be closed for traffic then Haridwar - Roorkee - Muzaffarnagar. Then it will be Haridwar - Roorkee - MuzaffarNagar - Meerut. And absolutely out of bounds (Haridwar - New Delhi) in the last 2-3 days of the yatra. Vehicles are diverted to different village routes with terrible and unsafe (in late evenings) roads.

Irish, thank you so much for the warning! I was planning to take my wife and son to Chamba, Uttarakhand this weekend to celebrate my wife's birthday with a trip to the hills. We were to leave Gurgaon on 29 June and return on 4 July. After reading your post, and knowing what the kanwariyas are like I am wondering if it would be better to cancel.

Would there be any trouble just before the 4th or should I wait till August?

[Irish]

Originally Posted by Pacifica

Would there be any trouble just before the 4th or should I wait till August?

No, there shall not be much trouble except for the traffic snarls in few towns on the way. It shall be absolutely safe. I am also going to Patanjali Yogpeeth on this weekend and expect that everything shall be fine.

Kanwar yatra starts form 4th July means that kanwariyas will start from Haridwar on 4th July with the holy water. Which means you may face more number of vehicles (cars / suv / 407) and fully loaded buses going towards Haridwar by 3rd July. Also there will be camps for kanwariyas currently being prepared, on the highway which may create traffic jams inside towns. And the kanwariyas rush will increase gradually after 4th July.

Therefore, it shall be safe to travel if you are returning by 4th July.

Cheers!
Irish

[Pacifica]

Originally Posted by Irish

No, there shall not be much trouble except for the traffic snarls in few towns on the way. It shall be absolutely safe. I am also going to Patanjali Yogpeeth on this weekend and expect that everything shall be fine.

Thank you, Irish. I would be starting from Gurgaon around 4:30AM. Initially I was planning on taking the Ganga Canal road to Khatauli but now I think I better stick to NH-58. While coming back I'm thinking of taking the detour via Bijnaur to Meerut.

[Irish]

Originally Posted by Pacifica

Thank you, Irish. I would be starting from Gurgaon around 4:30AM. Initially I was planning on taking the Ganga Canal road to Khatauli but now I think I better stick to NH-58. While coming back I'm thinking of taking the detour via Bijnaur to Meerut.

I am back from Haridwar / Rishikesh. The traffic was smooth except for the heavy tourist rush at Haridwar because of last weekend of summer holidays. No sign of any pandal on the way.

Highway between Meerut till Muzaffarnagar is a breeze with a toll tax of Rs 65. Otherwise its too bad to drive on UP highways.


The kanwar rush will affect the traffic in 1-2 weeks time.

Cheers!
Irish

[SS-Traveller]

NH58 is off-limits for heavy vehicles (trucks and long-distance buses) from today, so traffic was smooth in the morning on the north-bound lane. Fair number of kanwariyas on the Delhi-bound lane, so need to be careful while travelling back. A part of the kanwariyas have been diverted onto the road ('kanwar patri') along the Upper Ganga Canal, and that road is totally off-limits to any motor vehicle.

From tomorrow, one of the carriageways (the Delhi-bound one) will be shut for vehicular traffic, and only the north-bound carriageway will be used for traffic both ways. Major traffic jams are expected.

Saturday (14th July) till Tuesday (17th July), NH58 from Ghaziabad till Haridwar is going to remain closed to all vehicular traffic.

Incidentally, I found a group of kanwariyas walking along with BASEBALL BATS in their hands.

[bblost]

Will there be any impact of traffic bound from Jaipur towards Delhi?

My family is travelling and they would be on this road sometime over the weekend.