Amid rising concerns over the footfall and the surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in Kumbh Mela, Haridwar District Magistrate and Kumbh Mela officer Deepak Rawat said that he has no information on the duration of the festival being curtailed.
“Kumbh Mela used to begin in January but looking at the COVID-19 situation, state government decided to start this in April. The Centre's SOP said that in the wake of the situation the period (of Mela) be reduced. I have no info if it's being curtailed,” he told ANI.
According to the police control room, Kumbh Mela, 13,51,631 people took a dip in the Ganga on Wednesday, which marked the Baisakhi festival.
On Wednesday, Haridwar reported 525 new cases of coronavirus and two deaths, with 3,000 active cases. In the past five days, Haridwar has seen 2,167 news cases being registered.
The rise comes while serious questions are being raised over the decision to continue with the Kumbh Mela, as India reported over 2 lakh new cases on Thursday, the highest-ever spike since the beginning of the pandemic.
Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat, too, faced flak on Wednesday for his comments saying that the Kumbh Mela cannot be compared to the Tablighi Jamaat incident that happened last year.
“They (Markaz attendees) were all inside a building and here it is out in the open,” Rawat had said, adding that the Kumbh Mela is near the Ganges. “The flow and blessings of Ma Ganga will ensure that coronavirus does not spread. The question does not arise of a comparison.”
(With inputs from ANI.)
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