New Delhi:Â Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s has cancelled this year’s Kanwar Yatra over the fear of a possible third wave of the pandemic.
While interacting with Media Chief Minister Dhami said “We, over the past many days, have discussed this a lot, spoke to authorities, and also officials in neighbouring states. The conclusion was that, in these times, we don’t want to turn Haridwar into a centre of the pandemic”.
“People’s lives are our primary concern. We can’t play around with that, even the gods will not want people to die,” he said announcing the decision to cancel the Yatra.
The Yatra had been cancelled in 2020, also, amid the first wave.
Every year, an estimated 30 million Kanwariyas (devotees of Lord Shiva) from various northern states travel on foot or by other means to collect water from River Ganga at Haridwar to offer at Shiva temples in their areas.
The fortnight-long yatra, which begins with the onset of the month of Shravan, around July 25, and goes on till the first week of August, sees Kanwariyas from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, and Himachal Pradesh gathering in Haridwar.
A week before Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s decided to allow this year’s Kanwar yatra.
The Indian Medical Association’s Uttarakhand chapter had yesterday written to Chief Minister Dhami requesting him to cancel the Yatra.
