A data was released by Kumbh Mela Force on April 29 whichrevealed that around 9.1 million people attended the Mahakumbh this yeardespite rising covid cases in the country. Kumbh 2021 was allowed even when thesecond wave of coronavirus was at its peak.
Massive crowd participated in the religious gatheringturning it into a ‘super spreader event’ of Covid19. Covid norms and protocolswere flouted as people were not wearing any masks and maintaining socialdistancing with such a huge crowd is impossible, resulting in an alarming surgeof cases. This rapid surge in cases sparked the shortage of hospital beds andother medical supplies.
Around 3.5 million people attended the first shahi snan-Somvati Amavasya holy dip on April 12. For Maha Shivratri on March 11, 3.2million pilgrims had arrived for the bath. On the occasion of MeshSankranti-Baisakhi on April 14, around 1.3 million people arrived for thesecond shahi snan. On April 27, about 27,000 people had arrived for the third shahisnan. The released data said, “9.1million pilgrims took the holy dip in Ganga from January 14 to April 27. Ofthese around 6 million people congregated in April.”
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Sanjay Gunjiyal, Kumbh Mela Force inspector general said,“The major task of the force was to ensure peaceful completion of Kumbh withthe support of Akharas, seers and local people and volunteers without violatingCovid protocols.
Dr. Sanjay Shah who is vice president of the Associationof Physician of India, Uttarakhand Chapter expressed his concerns over the casesurge due to Kumbh 2021. He said, “Covid19 positive cases have risen sharply inHaridwar with back-to-back Shahi snans in mid-April which witnessed over 4million pilgrims influx in a span of just two days. Testing and tracing need tobe carried out at a large level now.
More than 100 seers and mela associates have contractedCovid infection and four have lost their lives. Haridwar has reported a surgein cases from 15,226 on April 1 to 31,596 cases. The state has reported total active48,318 cases.