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Will lift Covid curbs for Kumbh: Rawat
Soon after taking over as the state’s chief minister, Rawat scrapped the requirement of a negative Covid-19 test report for visitors to the Kumbh, one that had been put in place by his predecessor.
The second wave of Covid-19 may be on in India, and infections are surging in several states , prompting their governments to introduce restrictions on movement and activities, but Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Saturday assured devotees planning to visit the Mahakumbh, considered the largest religious congregation in the world, that all “unnecessary” restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic will be removed, and asserted that “faith is stronger than fear”.
“I invite all devotees across the world to come to Haridwar and take a holy dip in the Ganga during the Mahakumbh. Nobody will be stopped in the name of Covid-19, as we are sure the faith in God will overcome the fear of the virus,” said Rawat.
Soon after taking over as the state’s chief minister, Rawat scrapped the requirement of a negative Covid-19 test report for visitors to the Kumbh, one that had been put in place by his predecessor.
The statement comes at a time when experts and social activists have sounded an alert that the mega event, scheduled to be held from April 1 to April 30, could potentially turn into a “superspreader event” and trigger large clusters of Covid-19 cases in the state. The government is, however, yet to issue the notification officially declaring the start of Mahakumbh.
“With the Covid-19 cases again increasing in the country, the government’s approach should be “health first”, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, which is worrisome,” said PS Chauhan, a Haridwar-based senior academician. “The easing of restrictions would be very dangerous for the health safety of our state.”
A high-level central team has been deployed in Haridwar to review medical care and public health arrangements for the event.
“Religious sentiments need to be given priority as faith is stronger than fear as was seen in the Shahi Snan on Mahashivratri on March 11, for which about 3.4 million people arrived in Haridwar,” Rawat said.
