Over 15 lakh devotees expected for Solar Eclipse fair in Kurukshetra; Drones to keep hawk eye

Chandigarh, Dec 17: The security personnel will keep a hawk eye through drones in air over the solar eclipse fair in Kurukshetra on December 26 when over 15 lakh pilgrims from the country and abroad are likely to take a holy dip in Brahma Sarovar there.

After a meeting chaired by Haryana Chief Secretary Keshni Anand Arora to take stock of the security and other infrastructural arrangements for the famous Kurukshetra fair, the authorities said over 5000 security personnel, linked to a police central control room, would be deployed at the fair venue.

The arrangements have also been made to deploy an adequate number of boats, besides divers and swimmers, in the lake to tackle any contingency during the holy dip in the pond on the occasion, they said.

"This year, the fair is expected to witness the participation of over 15 lakh devotees from India and abroad. The state government will run special buses for the convenience of devotees so that they do not face any problem in reaching Kurukshetra," an official statement said.

Chief Secretary Arora directed officers that the Kurukshetra's district administration, its development board and tourism department should work in coordination to ensure the successful organization of the fair.

She also asked officials to make adequate arrangements of ambulances and stretchers, besides teams of doctors should be deployed on the occasion. She also said sufficient number of fire fighting vehicles should be deployed at the site and wanted officials to chalk out a dedicated route for ambulances, fire tenders and police vehicles to reach and get out of the fair venue without any hinderance in case of any eventuality.

During the fair, all devotees will be covered under group insurance, it was further informed. She said the law and order should be strengthened to ensure the security of every devotee visiting the fair. For the convenience of devotees, special buses would be run from all the districts.

Apart from this, directions were also given to ensure coordination with the railways so that the devotees do not face any inconvenience in reaching Kurukshetra. Among those present in the meeting included, Principal Secretary Rajesh Khullar to the chief minister, Tourism Department's Additional Chief Secretary Vijay Vardhan, Karnal Divisional Commissioner Vineet Garg and Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Navdeep Singh Virk, besides other senior officers.