HYDERABAD  –  The 774th Urs of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (RA) commenced in Sehwan, Jamshoro district, on Saturday as hundreds of thousands of devotees began to descend on the town to show their respects to the saint. The 3-day festivities have started amid stringent security provided by 5,000 policemen and 300 personnel of Ranges besides standby platoons of Pak Army, Navy and Rapid Response Force (RRF). According to the district administration’s estimates, around 2 million devotees were expected to visit the small town from all parts of Pakistan and from abroad as well. The Sindh Culture Department will organize a conference of folks while the Sindh Sports Department would host an event of traditional wrestling on the first day of Urs. On the second day, a literary conference would take place in Sehwan in which the historians and writers would shed light on the saintly works of Qalandar (RA).  Deputy Commissioner of Jamshoro district, Ghazanfar Ali Qadri, informed that the town would be monitored with the help of 320 CCTV cameras which had been installed at some 200 locations. He added that 120 more cameras had been installed in the premises of the shrine. 

According to him, 15 medical camps had been set up in the town whose central government hospital had been kept on emergency mode for the 3 days.  The authorities had also made arrangements for providing free drinking water to the devotees in the town.  Meanwhile, a ban has been enforced on swimming in the canals in Sehwan.