70 lakh participated in Kumbh Mela held amid COVID-19 surge

Seventy lakh devotees participated in Haridwars Kumbh Mela the mammoth religious congregation which ended Friday after triggering a scare that it might have acted as a coronavirus superspreaderDespite the huge number of people gathering around Haridwar to take a dip in the holy Ganga the 2021 event was a comparatively modest event reduced to just one month and scaled down midway due to the raging pandemicHeld over three months in normal circumstances the Kumbh Mela this time formally begun as late as April 1 due to concerns over COVID19About 2600 devotees tested positive out of the nearly two lakh tests conducted by medical personnel during the melaThree shahi snans took place during the event on April 12 14 and 27 the last one being reduced to a largely symbolic eventHaridwars Chief Medical Officer SK Jha said the Kumbh was a big challenge considering its potential to fuel the surge of coronavirusMedical officer for Kumbh Arjun Singh Sengar said The situation was challenging for us as the crowd though relatively smaller this time was big enough to violate the norms of social distancingThe seers were initially reluctant to go for tests but they relented after the second shahi snan on April 14 he saidWith the help of healthcare personnel brought from Uttar Pradesh we conducted a total of 190083 tests out of which 2642 reported positive he saidThe scaling down is said to be the first in the history of the mela which is held once every twelve years in HaridwarThe crowds began petering out after an appeal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the seers to keep their representation in Kumbh symbolicThe Joona Akhada the largest among the sects which attend the mela was the first to respond to PM Modis appeal followed by several other akhadas which withdrew from the eventOrdinary devotees then followed their exampleMela organisers claim that the event among the largest religious gatherings on earth passed off without any serious untoward incident anywhere in the Kumbh Mela Kshetra spread over an area of 641 hectares from Haridwar to DevprayagMela Inspector General Sanjay Gunjyal claimed this to be a first since 1912A stampede a clash or a dispute among seers of different Akhadas marked most of the editions of the event in the past But this time despite the extraordinary circumstances arising out of a strong second wave of coronavirus the Kumbh Mela passed off without any interruption he saidIt is a kind of record he told PTIThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever