HYDERABAD: Adviser to Sindh chief minister on religious affairs Fayyaz Butt has said that maximum facilities should be provided to devotees and visitors to the 770th urs of Qalandar Lal Shahbaz and asked district administration to hold the urs in a befitting manner.

He said while chairing a meeting of government officials in Sehwan on Saturday that all departments should maintain close liaison among them to make the urs, which was being held after a gap of two years, a success.

Jamshoro deputy commissioner Faridduddin Mustafa informed the adviser that over 2.5 million devotees would attend the urs celebrations this year, which had to be postponed for two years due to Covid related restrictions. Section 144 CrPC had been imposed on bathing in Aral Wah and other canals during the urs, he said.

He said that divers of Pakistan Navy had been deployed along the water bodies, 200 close circuit television cameras had been installed around the shrine, 60 medical camps had been set up and a heatstroke centre had been established near the town on the Indus Highway.

The adviser told journalists that all required steps were being taken by the administration and government to ensure the urs was held in a peaceful manner.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2022