The Uttarakhand government has scrapped the annual Kanwar Yatra in the state immediately after coming in for extreme criticism for hosting more than 36 lakh folks through the Kumbh Mela just ahead of the second COVID-19 wave hit the nation. Police authorities in the state appealed to their counterparts in neighbouring states to ask devotees not to pay a visit to Haridwar this month to gather water from the Ganga for the annual pilgrimage. The yatra was scrapped last year as nicely due to COVID-connected restrictions.
The appeal was issued through a meeting of the inter-state coordination committee on the yatra, chaired by DGP Ashok Kumar. Police officers from Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Delhi had been present at the meeting. DGP Kumar mentioned the Uttarakhand police would book these located getting into Haridwar beneath the Disaster Management Act and the Epidemic Diseases Act, and location them beneath quarantine. The Uttarakhand police also recommended that devotees coordinate with the police at the station level to send tankers and gather water from the Ganga. The state’s urban development division has currently issued an order prohibiting Kanwar Yatra this year.
According to an Indian Express report, practically 3.5 crore devotees, or kanwariyas, visited Haridwar in 2019. In 2018, that figure stood at 2.8 crore. Officials mentioned most of the kanwariyas had been from western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, followed by these from Rajasthan and Delhi.
The state government had earlier suspended the Char Dham Yatra. This followed Uttarakhand High Court staying for 4 weeks the selection to let residents of 3 districts to conduct the pilgrimage from July 1.
According to information from the state’s wellness division, when the Kumbh formally began on April 1, Haridwar had 626 active situations. On April 30, when the mela officially concluded, the quantity rocketed to 11,075 in the district. It reported at least 17,226 new situations and 90 deaths amongst April 1 and 30.
Uttarakhand has not too long ago been mired in political turbulence with Trivendra Singh Rawat becoming replaced as chief minister by Tirath Singh Rawat, who himself made way for Pushkar Singh Dhami last week.