Kumbh Mela continues as Covid keeps getting worse

At around one million, the gathering at the Haridwar Kumbh on the occasion of Mesh Sankranti (Baisakhi) on Wednesday was much less than that anticipated by the Mela administration.Despite discussing the Covid protocols with the seers, the administration found it tough to implement the social distancing norms considering the crowd. It had, however, isolated all those found positive among the Akhadas and the pilgrims. Officials ensured strict implementation of the time bands given to the different Akharas for taking the holy dip. Shahi Snan came to an end more than 45 minutes before the scheduled time of 6 pm on Wednesday.Unlike on Monday, the event concluded in an orderly fashion as the administration had made preparations for a much bigger gathering.The Wednesday event is considered the most auspicious of the four Shahi Snans during the Kumbh.“We have satisfactory coordination with the Akhara Parishad and public awareness drive also seems to have brought down the number of devotees. The total count of devotees was around 10 lakh till 5 pm. We have managed to follow the timelines for all the events through the day,” Janmejay Khanduri, senior superintendent of police, Kumbh Mela, told ET.Haridwar district is grappling with increasing Covid-19 cases. In the past two days, it has recorded more than 1,000 Covid positive cases, including 594 on Tuesday. On Wednesday, another 525 cases were reported in the past 24 hours, according to the state health bulletin.In Kumbh zone, spread over 600 hectares, the Mela administration also distributed masks on Wednesday to pilgrims and sadhus who were on their way to different ghats.Now, the next challenge for the administration is proper management of the remaining two major events of the Kumbh — Ram Navami (April 21) and Chaitra Purnima (April 27). The administration has deployed more than 20,000 police and central paramilitary personnel. The total number of active cases in Haridwar district is 1,011, according to SK Jha, chief medical officer, Haridwar.

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