Uttar Pradesh govt insists Kanwar yatra will go on

Uttar Pradesh, where assembly polls are scheduled early next year, had asked Uttarakhand to allow the yatra but the request was turned down.

Uttar Pradesh will continue with the kanwar yatra despite Uttarakhand cancelling the pilgrimage this year, senior officials said on Tuesday, indicating that the state government could make negative Covid reports mandatory for devotees.

The Kanwar Yatra is an annual pilgrimage that devotees of Lord Shiva undertake during the monsoon in the Hindu holy month of Shravan (July) to fetch the holy waters of the Ganga from Haridwar in Uttarakhand. Most of the pilgrims, called kanwarias, travel on foot. (Sanchit Khanna/HT File)

The fortnight-long yatra, in which Shiva devotees travel to Haridwar and carry Ganga water back to local shrines, is set to begin from July 25.

On Tuesday, Uttarakhand scrapped the event over fears of a Covid surge.

“It’s status quo in UP. We are talking to kanwar sanghs and everything will be done within the Covid protocol. Even if devotees come from other state to UP, they will have to follow those protocols,” said additional chief secretary (home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi.

Uttar Pradesh, where assembly polls are scheduled early next year, had asked Uttarakhand to allow the yatra but the request was turned down.

A senior government official said the yatra was likely to be limited within the state. “Traditionally, UP devotees also do yatra within the state. They go to places like Varanasi, Barabanki, Ghazipur, Unnao, Ayodhya, Bijnor etc,” said the official on condition of anonymity. Uttarakhand is also likely to allow tankers from UP to carry back water from the Ganga.

“The state is also going to introduce Covid-19 RT-PCR negative test report mandatory for the pilgrims,” added the official quoted above.