Haridwar: Schools to stay shut for a week from July 27 due to Kanwar Yatra
Magistrate announced that Government, non-government schools and Anganwadi centres from class 1 to 12 in the Haridwar district will remain closed for a week.
Schools in Haridwar will remain closed from July 27 to August 2 due to the rush of devotees also known as ‘kanwariyas’ during the ongoing Kanwar Yatra which started on Monday.
ALSO READ | Supreme Court stays Uttarakhand, UP govt orders asking eateries on Kanwar Yatra route to disclose staff names
With the beginning of the Kanwar Yatra, devotees have been pouring into Haridwar to collect water from the river Ganga river. The 'kanwar' in the Kanwar Yatra refers to a pot filled with water from the river Ganga which is suspended on a decorated bamboo stick and is balanced on the shoulders.
District Magistrate Dhiraj Singh Garbiyal has said that it is going to close the schools for a few days keeping in mind the fact that rush will only increase in the coming days.
Haridwar DM Garbiyal announced that government, non-government schools, and Anganwadi centers from class 1 to 12 in the district will remain closed from July 27 to August 2, reported news agency PTI.
ALSO READ | Kanwar Yatra: Unaware of SC stay, eatery owners rush to display names
This year, the Kanwar Yatra is taking place amid a lot of controversy which started with the Muzaffarnagar police in Uttar Pradesh issuing an order mandating restaurant owners to display their names in front of the eateries along the path of Kanwar Yatra. This decision was later extended to the entire state by UP government .
The yatra began on the first day of Sawan (Shravan) month on Monday and will end on August 2
On Monday, Supreme Court put an interim stay on the enforcement order of the UP government's directive which was passed by also passed by the Uttarakhand government requiring eatery owners to disclose the names of owners and the staff employed by them.
A car was vandalised and its occupants attacked by kanwariyas on Haridwar-Delhi national highway on Monday alleging that the vehicle had brushed against their kanwar making it impure.
(with inputs from news agencies)