After Kanwar Yatra rush, Haridwar battles waste; Delhi hit by noise, jams

Business Standard

5 days ago

On the final day of the Kanwar Yatra on Wednesday, Haridwar witnessed a massive influx of devotees. Thousands arrived in the early hours to take a holy dip in River Ganga on the occasion of Shravan Shivratri. The fortnight-long yatra witnessed a footfall of over 40 million devotees.
The huge footfall has reportedly left Haridwar grappling with huge quantities of waste. The Haridwar Municipal Corporation estimates that between 30,000 to 35,000 metric tonnes of garbage may have been generated during the mela period, according to a report by the Hindustan Times. Over 1,000 additional sanitation workers have been deployed to manage the cleanup operations in Haridwar and nearby areas.
Kanwar Yatra: Devotees still arriving as others depart
According to data from the Kanwar Mela control room, the pilgrim rush peaked in the final days of the yatra, the news report said. Devotees began arriving from July 11, collecting holy water from the Ganga to offer to Lord Shiva. As of Tuesday evening, most pilgrims had departed, but thousands were still entering the city even as cleanup efforts began.
Kanwar Yatra 2025: Traffic, noise complaints surge in Delhi
In Delhi, the Kanwar Yatra caused a spike in noise and traffic-related issues. Delhi Police received over 350 complaints in the last five days, especially after the start of Dak Kanwar, a more intense form of the yatra where pilgrims move quickly with the holy water, news agency PTI reported.
A senior police official said the Southern Range received around 40 such complaints on Monday alone. In the Central Range, there were 25 noise complaints and about 50 related to traffic jams. "We are witnessing a rise in calls regarding traffic snarls and high-decibel religious processions, especially in areas like ITO, Anand Vihar, Dhaula Kuan, Mehrauli and Outer Ring Road, where Kanwariyas are passing in large numbers," the officer told PTI.
Supreme Court orders hotels to display licences
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed hotels and eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh to clearly display their licences and registration certificates, as required by law.
A Bench comprising Justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh said, 'We are told that today is the last day of the yatra. In any case it is likely to come to an end in the near future. Therefore, at this stage we would only pass an order that all the respective hotel owners shall comply with the mandate of displaying the licence and the registration certificate as per the statutory requirements.'
QR code mandate under scrutiny
Last year, the top court stayed similar orders issued by the state governments, which required eateries to display owners' names and details. Referring to a June 25 press release from the Uttar Pradesh government, petitioners argued that the QR code rule could lead to "discriminatory profiling".
Advocate Jha, representing the petitioners, said, 'The new measures mandate the display of QR codes on all eateries along the Kanwar route which reveal the names and identities of the owners, thereby achieving the same discriminatory profiling that was previously stayed by this court.'
The petition also argued that forcing stall owners to reveal their religious and caste identities under the guise of licence requirements violates their right to privacy.