Kanwar Yatra Or No Kanwar Yatra? UP & Uttarakhand Have Different Take On Annual Pilgrimage

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday directed officials to ensure complete adherence to the Covid protocol during the Kanwar Yatra to be taken out by devotees in various districts and routes in the state later this month.

There should not be any slackness regarding the safety and successful organisation of the yatra, he said.

CM Yogi reviewed preparations

He was reviewing preparations and security arrangements for the Kanwar Yatra-2021 at a video conference with divisional commissioners and senior police officers of various police zones in Uttar Pradesh.

Agencies

Adityanath said the month of Shravan is starting from July 25 and in view of this, all preparations should be ensured well in time regarding the Kanwar Yatras to be taken out by the devotees in different districts and through different routes of the state.

"Complete adherence to the Covid protocol should be ensured. There should not be any hesitation regarding the safe and successful operation of Kanwar Yatras," the release quoted him as saying.

He said the festival of Bakrid is also scheduled before the beginning of the month of Shravan, and alertness and caution was necessary in this regard as well.

The chief minister instructed the officials to have complete preparations regarding sensitive places and asked them to take action by establishing coordination and dialogue with religious and voluntary organizations, the release added.

PTI

No official statement from Uttarakhand yet

This comes two days after the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand said that they would hold talks with their neighbouring states regarding the Kanwar Yatra.

In a meeting on Thursday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami directed officials to hold detailed discussions with other states and consider all aspects while taking a decision on the yatra.

However, Uttarakhand govt's decision to review Kanwar Yatra cancellation prompted experts to caution about a steep surge in Covid infections if safety protocols are violated.

BCCL

The review decision on the yatra, which sees millions of people travel through several states by foot to the holy town of Haridwar, came a day after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath cleared the event and asked Uttarakhand to allow the procession.

Yatra cancelled amid COVID scare

On Tuesday, the state government of Uttarakhand had decided not to allow the yatra over fears of a third Covid wave and increasing cases of delta variant in the state. The last Kanwar yatra was held in 2019 and roughly 30 million pilgrims reached Haridwar, as per official records.

The state government had issued an order stating that Kanwar pilgrims from neighbouring states won¡¯t be allowed to enter Haridwar. Both Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh are ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party and are scheduled to go to the polls early next year.

Annual pilgrimage

The fortnight-long Kanwar yatra is an annual pilgrimage of Shiva devotees -- known as Kanwariyas -- to Haridwar, Gaumukh and Gangotri in Uttarakhand to fetch the water of the Ganga and carry it back to local temples.

BCCL

Devotees come from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh to Uttarakhand. The yatra was cancelled last year due to Covid and is usually held from July 23 to August 6.