After videos that purportedly showed visitors smoking hookah near the Ganga river in Haridwar which went viral, for taking action against tourists creating a nuisance at the state’s religious places, the Uttarakhand Police began operation Maryada on Friday. The videos prompted the police to arrest at least 25 tourists and provoked outrage, according to a report released by the Hindustan Times.
All tourists were welcomed by the police at revered religious places along with other tourist spots as mentioned by the Uttarakhand Police chief Ashok Kumar but some tourists were seen disturbing the sanctity of the religious spots by consuming alcohol along with conducting other indecent activities which shall not be tolerated and the tourists are expected to maintain decorum and respect the sanctity of the religious places along with the rich culture of the state.
He further mentioned that to take action against such people, operation Maryada has been launched to stop such incidents in the state and the operation shall continue for 15 days, while people who are found littering shall also be fined.
Citing the government’s decision to cancel the pilgrimage given the coronavirus pandemic, Ashok Kumar also asked Kanwar Yatra pilgrims not to come to Haridwar. He also mentioned that pilgrims coming to Haridwar shall be respectfully turned back while a prohibition on the selling of Kanwar-related material shall also be imposed.
