Meerut, July 26 (TIWN) As the annual pilgrimage of Shiva devotees -- Kanwar Yatra -- hits its peak celebrations in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the all important national Highway connecting Delhi and Dehradun has been closed from early on Friday.

 According to the Additional Director General (ADG) of police, (west UP), Prashant Kumar, the highway will remain closed till late midnight July 30.   "Heavy deployment of a police force in regulating the traffic on one of the busiest highways of North India. We are diverting the vehicular traffic at key points," said Kumar on phone to IANS, before charting a government helicopter from the helipad in Meerut, for aerial survey of the route, early Friday morning. 

Amid terror threats, unprecedented security measures have been taken by the police of several northern Indian states to ensure a peaceful Kanwar Yatra, this season. Drones are being used extensively to monitor the sea of devotees, (expected to cross four crore) to monitor the pilgrimage.   CCTV have been installed at 57 key traffic crossings en route to Haridwar. 19 companies of PAC(armed police) have been deployed on Delhi-Dehradun highway.