Mahamandaleshwar Kapil Dev who had come from Chitrakoot,Madhya Pradesh died of coronavirus infection. The saint associated with NirvaniAkhara had gone to Haridwar to join Kumbh. After testing positive he washospitalized and was undergoing treatment in Kailash Hospital in Dehradun.
He was announced dead on April 14 by hospital management.Saint Kapil Dev is the first major saint to die from corona during Kumbh.
Meanwhile, Shri Niranjani Akhara has announced to end theKumbh Mela and it was revealed that all saints will vacate cantonments by April17. Akhand Secretary Mahant Ravindra Puri said, “Kumbh Mela will be abolishedby 17th April. The decision regarding the royal bath which was to be organizedon April 27 will be taken later. Coronahas affected the Kumbh Mela and a large number of saints and pilgrims havetested positive for the infection.
Till now, more than 2000 people who had participated inKumbh Mela 2021 has tested positive for Covid 19 in the last five days.According to Uttarakhand’s Covid 19state control room, lakhs of people gathered in the ghats in Haridwar for theroyal bath on 12 and 14 April. Throwing caution to the wind, around 13.5 lakhpeople arrived for Baisakhi Shahi Snan on April 14.
Inspector General of Kumbh Mela Gunjyal said, “all the 13 Akharas took a holydip on the occasion of Baisakhi Shahi Snan during Kumbh. The Baisakhi bath isconsidered the largest of all four royal baths. In 2010, around 160 millionpeople had arrived for it. However, this time the crowd was less thanexpected."
With the shortage of vaccines and the health systemcollapsing, the second wave of coronavirus is already wreaking havoc in India.Meanwhile, Kumbh Mela 2021 has become the super spreader of the infection,increasing the Covid count of the nation.
Taking precautionarymeasures, the Karnataka government has issued an advisory stating, every personreturning to Karnatka after joining Kumbh will have to undergo an RT-PCR test.