An Eyewitness account of 'super spreader' Haridwar Kumbh Mela
17 Apr 2021 15:54:53
I received this eye witness account from my friend, Rajesh Kunte, today morning. I am sharing this with after getting his assent. I think people really need to know the truth of what happened in Haridwar during Kumbh Mela and the arrangements there. The content below is word by word translation of his message. No personal comments have been added to it. My few lines appear after the story written by him.
I have returned from Haridwar today (17 April, 2021). I reached Haridwar on 12th April Entry in Uttarakhand was possible only with mandatory RT-PCR negative report. Even for registration on-line for Kumbh was possible only with an RT_PCR report. It was also mandatory to have a doctor’s health certificate.
We were allowed to get out of airport only after we showed our negative report. Our taxi was stopped at the crossing of Nepali Farm on way to Haridwar as no private vehicles were allowed beyond this point. Our health certificates etc were checked again at that barrier and we were taken to Motichoor bus stand. We had to show our RT-PCR report even at the hotel reception. It turned out that these reports were checked at various check points during entire stay. From 12th April to 15th April Haridwar no vehicle movement was allowed.
On the Baisakhi mahurtam of 14th April, we went along with Juna Akhada procession with sadhu and Sant, Mahamandaleshwars and Matham heads etc. The Naga Sadhus were heading the procession. Devotees and all Sants and sadhus were highly disciplined. The procession reached the Ghats as per schedule. Every akhada was given a fixed time period for the holy dip. Once a group finished the bath, the Ghat was cleared completely.
Police had made an efficient arrangement that no citizen will stay on the Ghat after the bath. The Ghat was cleared up in a few minutes.
Before the next batch of sadhus came, the entire Ghat was properly washed and dried with wipers. It was sanitised too. Entire campus and surrounding areas were cleaned well too. All this was happening at great speed and entire exercise was being finished in 10-15 minutes. I was really surprised to see this discipline and speed of work from the administration.
We left the Ghat and went to the market. At the start of the road going towards the market, every bag and packets were being sanitised. Even hands of all the pilgrims were being sanitised. One could see the consciousness about the mask – not of just the police but also the pilgrims and locals. If at all, someone was a little careless, he would be told by police and volunteers with affection to put it on. Police was not addressing people in a rude manner, that was noticeable. We were removing masks only for taking our photographs.
We could see at every step that the Kumbh administration was taking lot of care about Corona. One day we read in newspapers about 70-80 sadhus being Covid positive. We felt that it was very small number compared to Maharashtra’s cities like Kalyan, Dombivali, Pune, Nashik, Thane and Nagpur etc.
We found that schools in Rishikesh were also open. Normal life of citizens is going on with proper precautions against Corona. Overall, Kumbh arrangements, cleanliness, discipline should be appreciated. Local citizens may be about 50% of the crowd in the Kumbh. Road of Uttarakhand are excellent.
We reached Mumbai International Airport Terminal 2 from Dehradun today. There was no arrangement for checking RT-PCR reports. We did not find even one person checking pilgrims’ reports. I feel that there should be a proper report checking arrangement at Mumbai airport as Mumbai cases of Corona are rising hugely.
- Rajesh Kunte
Haridwar Kumbh arrangements and Uttarakhand government has been demonised by all, including BJP supporters. I think no one actually went there. Fake photos were posted on ‘verified’ news portals by ‘blue ticked’ journalists. No one cared to go and check the actual situation there. I thank Rajesh Kunte for volunteering this information. I request all the well-meaning citizens to share this report to stop Hinduphobia and Uttarakhand bashing in the name of the Kumbh.
By the time this report appears, major Sadhu akhadas have decided to stop the Kumbh celebrations. Prime Minister Modi ji has appealed to the Sadhu samaj to complete the rituals in a symbolic manner. This sensitivity of the PM and Sadhus needs to be appreciated. Recall, when the Kumbh had begun, the second wave had not yet hit us.
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