Calling it 'Matter of Faith', 13.5 Lakh Devotees Take Shahi Snan; COVID Protocol Goes for a Toss

Chattisgarh- As per official reports, as many as over 13.5 lakh devotees turned up for the third day of Shahi Snan on the banks of the river Ganga during the auspicious Hindu festival of Mahakumbh Mela. 

The authorities have assured that adequate measures, such as mandatory negative RTPCR reports for those coming in, have been in place for the overall safety of the people pouring in as new cases of coronavirus are skyrocketing and spiraling beyond control. 

Many of the visitors expressed that belief was more important than the pandemic and since the Kumbh Mela happens once in 12 years and they could not afford to miss it. 

Vicky Tyagi, a railway employee posted in Delhi who arrived here on Tuesday with three of his friends claimed that they did not require a Covid negative RTPCR report at the borders although IG Kumbh Sanjay Gunjyal said that around 56,000 people and 9,786 vehicles were not allowed to enter from the border as they were not carrying RTPCR and e-registration proof certificates. 

Mohit Chauhan, a laboratory technician in Rohtak claims that Corona does not exist, it's just a hype created by the government to impose restrictions. 

According to the district officials, rapid antigen tests were being conducted at railway stations on people arriving without an RTPCR report. Those who test positive are straightway sent to the Covid facility. 

The footfall of the devotees at 13.51 lakhs is considerably fewer than the 2010 Kumbh Mela where the registered amount of people was 1.6 crore, presumably due to the coronavirus pandemic, said IGP Gunjyal. 

In the past few days of the Mela, out of one lakh tests were carried out about 1000 positive cases were detected. 

For the first time this year, RSS volunteers have been appointed as Special Police Officers by the Uttrakhand police for helping out in the Kumbh Mela processions. They have been assisting personnel of central forces and local police in crowd and traffic management at their assigned location. There are as many as 1,553 RSS karsevaks involved out of which 1,053 are working on the field while the rest are being used as a backup. 

As of Wednesday, 1953 fresh cases of COVID 19 were detected from Uttrakhand with 13 cases of fatality. 

Meanwhile, India reported more than two lakh new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, according to the Union health ministry updated at 8 AM on Thursday. The active cases witnessed a massive jump of 106,173, taking the total caseload to 1471,877.

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