Haridwar: A total of 2167 people were found positive for coronavirus in Haridwar -- the place where the month-long Kumbh Mela is going on -- in the last five days.
"Kumbh Mela used to begin in January but looking at the COVID-19 situation, the state government decided to start this in April. The Centre's SOP said that in the wake of the situation the period (of Mela) be reduced. I have no information if it's being curtailed," Haridwar District Magistrate and Kumbh Mela officer Deepak Rawat said on Wednesday.
Read:| Administrative lapse in Mahakumbh could turn Haridwar into Covid epicentre
Serious questions are being raised over the decision to continue with the Kumbh Mela, as India reported over two lakh new cases on Thursday, the highest-ever spike since the beginning of the pandemic.
Around 14 lakh devotees took a holy dip in the River Ganga at the Haridwar Mahakumbh on Wednesday on the occasion of Baisakhi Shahi Snan, the third royal bath in this Kumbh.
Read:| Over 1,700 test positive for COVID-19 in Kumbh Mela over 5-day period
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat had said on Tuesday that there is no comparison between the event held at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi last year and Kumbh in Haridwar as the former was held in a closed space while the latter is being held in a vast open area.
"There is no comparison between Markaz and Kumbh. Markaz was in a closed hall. All the people slept in a single hall with close contacts. They shared blankets. On the contrary, there are 16 ghats in Kumbh. Not just Haridwar, Kumbh is spread from Rishikesh to Nilkanth. Devotees take bath in different ghats at different times," he had said.
ANI
Read:| Karnataka Kumbh returnees to isolate and undergo COVID test
