Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat has defended Haridwar Kumbh Mela amid demands to cancel the mega event in view of the Covid pandemic. Rawat has convened a high-level meeting on Friday to discuss the issue. The issue of scarcity of Remdisivir in the state is also expected to be discussed in the high-level meeting.
Haridwar reported 594 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, thus, taking the number of active cases to 2,812. Haridwar's coronavirus count was 408 on Monday.
Rawat had earlier defended the Kumbh Mela and asked people to not compare it with the Nizamuddin Markaz. "There should be no comparison between Kumbh and Markaz. The Markaz was held in a closed space, in a Kothi-like structure whereas the Kumbh is being held in the open on the sprawling ghats of the Ganga," he said.
Uttarakhand has been witnessing a constant rise in Covid cases. On Thursday, the state recorded 1714 cases. There are 12,484 active cases in Uttarakhand as of now.