Now, Delhi cancels Kanwar Yatra in view of Covid-19 pandemic
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has cancelled the organisation of the Kanwar Yatra in Delhi.
Earlier on Saturday, Uttar Pradesh had cancelled the annual Kanwar Yatra in the state has been cancelled this year. The development came a day after the Supreme Court said it cannot allow the Uttar Pradesh government "to hold 100 per cent physical Kanwar Yatra in view of Covid", stressing that sentiments, including religious, are subservient to the Right to Life.
The yatra was scheduled to start on July 25.
The Uttarakhand government has 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.
READ MORE: VHP urges UP, Uttarakhand to rethink cancelling Kanwar Yatra, calls for allowing pilgrimage
The 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.
The Centre had told the top court that the state governments must not permit any kind of Kanwar yatra because of the pandemic and arrangements should be made for water from the Ganges to be available through tankers at designated places.
On Friday, the Supreme Court which had taken suo motu cognisance of the matter and asked the Uttar Pradesh government to inform by July 19 whether it would reconsider its decision to hold a "symbolic" Kanwar Yatra.
Hours after a nudge from the Supreme Court on Friday, the Uttar Pradesh government had said it is talking with "kanwar sanghs" to take the right decision on the annual yatra and reminded that the organisations themselves decided to cancel it last year.
READ MORE: Uttar Pradesh govt cancels this year Kanwar Yatra amid Covid situation
