[AbhishekB86]

Hi Irish,

Mr Garg seems to be very proactive on Facebook on the Delhi Traffic Police page.

However as active as he is on traffic violations he has not been acknowledging Kavariyan related complaints.

On Deepali's suggestion to write to the media I thought I should first get a response from Mr Garg.

But I guess my post is a tricky one and noone wants to comment on the issue.

My next step, although one for the future, is to take up the Kavariyan vandalism to the media before next year's yatra. Maybe a signed letter from BHPians, although a little too ambitious can push the media into highlighting the problem.

Originally Posted by Irish

I had written to Mr. Satyendra Garg (JCP, Delhi Traffic) last year but never got any reply. I advised him to control such situation now before it is impossible to control. Since the population is increasing day by day, young crowd joins / participate religious activities and then becomes out of control and they start doing to what they feel is good. Such religious gatherings were never used to be so huge around 10 years back. There were few hundreds coming and that's it but as we are progressing with our population, such gatherings are getting huge.

By the way, the traffic mess is over today and traffic will be back on the track on Delhi roads by tomorrow morning. This is what all the Govt. agencies (police, MCD etc.) might be thinking today.

Cheers!
Irish

[born_free]

Kanwarias create 5 Km massive Jam on Gurgaon express way.

Kanwarias walk, cars crawl - The Times of India

[gd1418]

The Dak-kanwariyas - don't have words to describe them. This morning the entire carriageway of the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road towards Gurgaon experienced massive jam. The cars were not even crawling. Why?

Because many trucks & tempos with the rowdy dak-kanwariyas were going to bathe Mahadev with Gangajal. They were seen creating ruckus with loud ear-jarring music blaring.

On the same route during the annual Urs at Ajmer I see busloads of devotees heading towards Ajmer. Also seen are pedestrian devotees on way to Ajmer. Not a sound and no rowdy behaviour.

Why can't we Hindus do the same?

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by Irish

This problem is not related to one specific religion / region.

Cheers!
Irish

Very well put Irish. Problem in democratic India is while people are very much bothered about their fundamental rights, they care two hoots about their fundamental duties. These hooligans are not restricted to one religion. Hell they are not even restricted to religion. Every now and then we see glimpses of such hooliganism in play, with a group of people holding the larger interests at ransom.

Mr. Satyender Garg is in a helpless situation. Even if he wants, he cant possibly do anything. All this nonsense will anyway be passed off as the right to religion and religious worship. He cant think of handling these bunch with a stern hand even if he desires to do so. They have backing of their respective communities who in turn are supported by the political parties. Any attempt at reigning control over them would be seen as an attempt at attacking the faiths which may snowball into a serious issue of law and order.

Incidentally the class that is most affected by this has a sizeable number on its side, but will seldom have the wherewithal or the motivation to do anything. Sab chalta hain .. "Ek hafte ki baat hain" Sad but true.

What else can we do rather than getting irritated and venting our anger among like minded folks on internet forums?

Me? I m glad it passed and from today onwards we can have a slightly better time on road till the time some other group decides to hijack the roads for its cause.

Cheers

[Irish]

Originally Posted by gd1418

Why can't we Hindus do the same?

Sir,

As I said, this problem is irrespective of region and religion. Just go to India Gate on the nights of Shab-E-Baraat and you will know, how helpless is police on those nights as well. You can see teenagers doing bike stunts and India gate round about (VVIP area) is out of bounds for normal traffic. I am sure you miss such stunts during kanwar yatra.

So the problem is independent of religion as well as region in India.

Cheers!
Irish

[aerohit]

What to say? Beware of Indian-Talibans

Enraged Kawarias Smash Motorbike In Meerut - YouTube

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by aerohit

What to say? Beware of Indian-Talibans

Horrible. Talibanisation of India. How can this behaviour be remotely religious? Is nt the very idea of being religious to be forgiving? Wonder what the gods will have to say when they look at the fresh supply of their followers?

[gd1418]

This cracked me up. Fresh supply....ROTFL

Originally Posted by vibbs

fresh supply of their followers?

[Nitinz]

Ironic that Law Breakers are protected by Law Enforcers !!

Seen Dak-Kavars blaring loud music (Supposedly Religious ) on their Trucks , perched on both sides with their legs dangling in air and oogling at women drivers and waving in air as if they have brought us a World Cup. while couple of riders on bikes acting as Traffic Sergeants other riders participating sort of relay race with 'Holy' Water

Most of these Dak -Kavars are unemployed rural youth and this Kavariya business gives them a leeway for fun and hooliganism under garb of Religious Sanction

Did notice lot of them wearing different coloured 'Team ' Uniforms too !!

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by gd1418

Why can't we Hindus do the same?

It is not religion specific but festival specific. The disguise of lord shiva gives them an excuse to do drugs and what not. And once the practice got prevalent the word of mouth ensured that each year more and more people started joining this yatra for all the fun and drugs it promises.

But its not just a Hindu problem. Ever been to Kolkata on muharram? Its scary. Similarly there are jams seen everywhere in Delhi at the time of friday prayers in mosques.

[Irish]

So the Kanwar Season 2012 is over now. The roads and traffic are absolutely fine. Kanwar Pandals are being dismantled by the contractors and hopefully the sides of the roads will also be free in a day or two.

Now let's wait for the next season with increase in the number of devotees as well as hooligans!

Cheers!
Irish

[AbhishekB86]

Guess who's back on the roads again? Saw a few on the Dhaula Kuan - Gurgaon (NH8) flyover and a couple of bikes with missing helmets. Low in numbers but were behaving themselves even though minus helmets. I hope this time they're civil.

[SS-Traveller]

Yes, they're back. Lesser numbers than previous years (till now). The Upper Ganga Canal Road was shut down to traffic in the afternoon today. Meerut bypass has been made one-way heading towards Delhi only, for all traffic. NH58 is expected to be closed for heavy vehicles from Wednesday (31st July), and LMV traffic diverted to one side of the carriageway for both up and down traffic (can happen tomorrow evening too, depending on the volume of kawariyas coming through).

Highway reopens on 6th August.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by AbhishekB86

Guess who's back on the roads again? Saw a few on the Dhaula Kuan - Gurgaon (NH8) flyover and a couple of bikes with missing helmets. Low in numbers but were behaving themselves even though minus helmets. I hope this time they're civil.

Too much to ask I guess

[joybhowmik]

Taking the Udyog Vihar exit off NH-8 was a pain at 8:40 AM today. Reason: Left turning traffic at Ambience Mall , was restricted due to Kavariya movement. Hence a huge back-up resulted, mainly due to impatient drivers deciding to block the right side lanes at the exit in the hope of a quick get-away (the ubiquitious hour-glass pattern of vehicles at any turn on any Indian road)

Patience paid off, after about 10 minutes of crawling at < 5 kmph, was finally over the offending stretch. From that point to Cyber City did not take as much time as usual - probably because most of the traffic was still stuck somewhere between the Toll Gate and Ambience Mall.


Lesson Learnt: Take MG road this week (and next)