HARIDWAR: Amidst the massive surge in Covid-19 cases, the last shahi snan of the Maha Kumbh on the ocassion of Chaitra Purnima on Tuesday was a relatively muted affair compared to the previous shahi snans.
In the morning, when the shahi snan ritual started, it was being estimated that the turnout would be around 3 lakh. Officials announced by evening that around 25,000 people had participated in the shahi snan till 5 pm.
Times View
Even 3 lakh or even 25,000 is too large a number of people congregating at the height of a deadly epidemic. With mounting deaths all around, especially in the past fortnight, the state government should have ensured that the last shahi snan was a symbolic event. Now one can only hope that this doesn’t turn out to be a superspreader event.
ANI Photo
While India continues to grapple with the second wave of Covid-19 cases, the last
shahi snan of the Maha Kumbh is taking place in Haridwar on Tuesday on the occasion of Chaitra Purnima.
ANI shared a tweet reporting from Uttarakhand where people are taking a holy dip in the river Ganga today as the part of the last
shahi snan.
Uttarakhand: People take holy dip in river Ganga in Haridwar on Chitra Purnima today. The last shahi snan of #KumbhMela2021 is taking place today. pic.twitter.com/rnF0UN8mU0 ANI (@ANI) April 27, 2021
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed on April 17 requesting seers to keep the rest of the Kumbh symbolic in order to curb the spiralling COVID-19 numbers. While the prominent