India’s propensity for large gatherings could end up costing us dearly. The recent news report about permission given for the  Kumbh Mela in Haridwar is frightening. The newly inducted Uttarakhand chief minister has said that a negative COVID report is not mandatory to attend the mela that will begin from April 1. Not surprising that he has now tested positive for the deadly virus. The previous CM had wisely made a negative RT-PCR report compulsory. A badly hit economy cannot be the reason to encourage such dangerous gatherings.

Why just the Kumbh Mela, the cricket legends tournament at Rajpur was held to a packed stadium, a tournament that was forced to stop last year amid COVID, and so was the series against England where crowds were banned only at the last few games after better sense prevailed. And then there are the election rallies being held across the country. The crowds being encouraged to come out to listen to the bhaashans in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Assam is a downright irresponsible move by local authorities. In none of these gatherings are the people or the politicians seen following COVID guidelines.