Crowds surging at Kumbh Mela amid rising Covid cases
After HC rap, Guj govt bans all gatherings; night curfew in Haryana
Amid rising Coronavirus cases nationwide, a sea of saffron-clad seers and ash-smeared Nagas converged at Har ki Pauri in Haridwar for a holy dip in the Ganga during the second shahi snan of the Kumbh Mela on Monday.
Led by their ‘mahamandaleshwaras’, the sadhus from different akhadas took out ‘shobha yatras’ through the main thoroughfare of the pilgrimage city to gather at Brahma Kund, Hari ki Pairi for the royal bath on Somvati Amavasya.
Masks were not worn by a large proportion and social distancing appeared impossible in an event in which, according to the mela administration, over 17 lakh people had taken a dip in the river in the first few hours up to 10 am.
Mela Inspector General Sanjay Gunjyal said 100 per cent compliance with Covid-19 norms is not possible with such a large crowd of seers converging on the ghats, but efforts were on to ensure that everyone adheres to them.
While Har ki Pauri, considered the holiest of the ghats was reserved for the akhadas from 7 am onwards, common people took the dip at the other ghats of the Ganga, revered by millions as a goddess.
Former King of Nepal Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah, on his maiden visit to Haridwar, was among the devotees who took a bath in the river.
Meanwhile, Supreme Court judges held court from their residences on Monday and the benches sat one hour late from their scheduled time in the morning as around 44 staffers tested positive for Coronavirus, sources said.
On some media reports which suggested that around 50 per cent Supreme Court staffers have tested positive, an Apex Court official said only 44 employees got infected in the last one week. There are around 3,000 staffers working in the Apex Court.
While some judges had been coming to the top court premises to hold court, few others have been presiding over proceedings from their residences till now.
A notification suspended physical mentioning of cases for urgent hearing by advocates from Monday till further orders.
The Maharashtra government on Monday postponed the state board exams of Classes 10 and 12, which were scheduled to be held later this month, in view of a steep rise in COVID-19 cases in the state.
The board exams of Class 12 were to begin from April 23 and of Class 10 from April 30.
As cases continued to spike in Gujarat, the state government on Monday decided to ban all sorts of social, political and religious gatherings, including birthday parties in public places with the immediate effect, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said.
The new directives came hours after the Gujarat High Court pulled up the state government over the pandemic situation and problems being faced by citizens.
Issuing a video message in the evening, the chief minister also announced a ban on the public celebration of all festivals, irrespective of faiths, falling in April and May. He also appealed to people to celebrate the upcoming festivals at home and avoid gathering in public.
The Chief Minister asked (managements of) all religious places in the state to ban the entry of visitors and devotees till April 30 and appealed to them to perform daily rituals in the presence of a limited number of people.
Earlier in the day, while hearing a PIL suo motu (on its own) on the situation in the state, a division bench of Chief Justices Vikram Nath and Bhargav Karia suggested various measures like capping the number of guests at weddings to 50, instead of 100 at present.
“The situation is quite different than what you are claiming. You are saying that everything is alright. But, the reality is contrary to that,” the high court had maintained.
Meanwhile, the Haryana government on Monday imposed a night curfew in the state with immediate effect.
“Night curfew between 9 pm and 5 am will be imposed from tonight and will remain in force till further orders,” Haryana
Home and Health minister Anil Vij said.