Kumbh Mela 2021: NSG commandos to be deployed for safety, says Uttarakhand police

NSG commandos will be deployed for safety during the Haridwar Kumbh Mela 2021. The state police chief has said two NSG teams will be deployed during the Kumbh Mela.

File Image of the NSG commandos

Dehradun: The National Security Guard (NSG) Commandos will be deployed in Haridwar for safety ad to take action against the anti-national elements during the Kumbh Mela 2021. This was announced by the Uttarakhand police on Wednesday.

The announcement came after Major General VS Ranade, NSG (IG Operations) met Uttarakhand Police Commissioner Ashok Kumar and discussed the deployment of NSG during the Kumbh Mela.

Ashok Kumar said that "to take action against the anti-national elements, two NSG teams will be deployed during Kumbh Mela. The NSG teams will also train our Anti-Terrorist Squad, he said.

"Meanwhile, Uttarakhand High Court has asked the state government to present before it a plan concerning crowd control and other arrangements related to Kumbh Mela in Haridwar in view of COVID-19 pandemic.

The court asked the state government to present the plan on January 13 and asked Chief Secretary, Health Secretary, District Magistrate of Haridwar and Kumbh Mela Officer to be present in the court.

A bench of Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari was hearing petitions stating that quarantine centres and covid care centres in the state were in a bad shape.

The bench directed the Haridwar District Judge to submit a report by February 21 giving particulars of ventilators, ICUs, hospital beds, equipment, staff capacity, etc. In the district in view of the religious congregation slated for March-April.

The court has asked the District Judge to file a report so as to bring out the true state of Kumbh Mela arrangements. Earlier, the high court had directed the Health Secretary, the fair organiser and the district magistrate to convene a meeting to set guidelines and submit a report before it.

State Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik had said last month that the Kumbh Mela will be held for 48 days in Haridwar instead of three-and-a-half months due to the pandemic.