After Supreme Court’s direction to reconsider Kanwar Yatra amid Covid-19 induced fear, the Uttar Pradesh government has cancelled Kanwar Yatra. The decision was agreed upon by all the kanwar sangh.
In today’s hearing, Senior Advocate CS Vaidyanathan appearing for Uttar Pradesh told the Supreme Court that this is the second year that the yatra has been cancelled due to the pandemic. Last year, too, the Yatra was cancelled in the same light.
If at the local level a devotee visits a local temple then it does not mean ‘Yatra’ at all and has to maintain the COVID protocols in place, Vaidyanathan added.
On Friday, a bench headed by Justice Rohinton F Nariman gave an ultimatum to the Uttar Pradesh government to either “reconsider” its decision or the court will pass orders on Monday. Delhi had already cancelled the Yatra in the wake of pandemic.
The Uttarakhand government also already called off the Kanwar Yatra citing fears expressed by experts of a possible third wave of the pandemic and the risk posed by such gatherings. The state government has, however, allowed neighbouring states to take holy water of Ganga in tankers.
The Kanwar Yatra goes on till the first week of August and sees thousands of Shiva devotees called ‘kanwariyas’ travelling mostly on foot from neighbouring states, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi to collect water from the Ganges in Haridwar.
