Lucknow: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a meeting with district and divisional level officials on Thursday evening to assess the law-and-order situation in the state ahead of upcoming festivals.
During the meeting, the CM said that the improved law and order, continuous communication, and cooperation from all sections of society have resulted in peaceful and harmonious celebrations of festivals in the state in recent years.This trend of excellent teamwork and public cooperation should continue, he said.
"In the coming days, special festivals like Dhanteras, Ayodhya Deepotsav, Diwali, Govardhan Puja, Bhai Dooj, Devotthan Ekadashi, Varanasi Dev Deepawali, and Chhath Mahaparv will be celebrated. Events like Panchkosi and 14 Kosi Parikrama, Kartik Purnima Snan in Ayodhya will also be organised during this period. This time is sensitive from the perspective of peace, security, and good governance. Learn from past experiences and the entire UP team, including police and administration, must remain on 24x7 alert," said the CM.
The CM directed officials to review activities of the past month and restrain identified troublemakers and disruptive elements. "It is appropriate to respond to disruptive elements in their own language," the CM said.
He has directed officials to increase vigilance on social media and said that every district should have a team to monitor social media, so that strict action can be taken against those spreading rumours.
Administration and police officials have been told to ensure sufficient deployment in sensitive areas. Before Diwali, they should establish communication and coordination with religious leaders of different communities and peace committees. During Diwali and Dhanteras, all district magistrates and police captains should ensure that there are no complaints of harassment from traders.
Shops and warehouses for firecrackers should be located away from populated areas while adequate arrangements for fire tenders should be made at such places. Firecracker shops should be in open spaces. The CM said that licences and NOCs should be issued to such shops on time while action should be taken against illegal storage of firecrackers.
The CM also said that all beneficiaries of the Ujjwala Yojna should receive their free cooking gas cylinders before Diwali.
During the festival season, all districts have been asked to make traffic plans according to the needs of each city. Additional police force will be deployed in sensitive areas while police will conduct foot patrolling every evening.
In case of any unpleasant or untoward incident, senior officers like district magistrates and police captains have been directed to reach the site without delay.
The Ayodhya Deepotsav, the first after the consecration of the Ram temple earlier this year, is scheduled for October 30 this year which more devotees are expected to attend. Dev Deepawali will be celebrated in Varanasi on November 15. Safety and security, and crowd management arrangements should be better for both events.
The Chhath Puja will be organised as a festival of ‘cleanliness and safety'. There will also be uninterrupted power supply across the state from October 28 to November 15. The CM has asked the power corporation to make necessary preparations for this.
Health services and trauma services will continue uninterrupted with easy availability of doctors everywhere. There will be intensified focus on adulteration of food with more checks and inspections.
With more people expected to start traveling back home during the festival season, the transport department has been asked to increase the number of buses on rural routes. Efforts will also be made to improve intelligence related to border areas along Nepal.