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Another crowded Shahi Snan at Kumbh; officials say 'only 6 lakh devotees' came for the dip

The third Shahi Snan saw similar scenes as witnessed in the earlier two holy dips at the Kumbh Mela with social distancing guidelines and Covid appropriate behaviour being completely disregarded.

Another crowded Shahi Snan at Kumbh officials 6 lakh devotees came for Baisakhi dip-VPN
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Har Ki Pauri, First Published Apr 14, 2021, 9:25 AM IST

Another auspicious day, another free for all amid Covid-19 was witnessed in Haridwar's Har ki Pauri where over six lakh devotees descended to take a holy dip on Baisakhi.

The third Shahi Snan saw similar scenes as witnessed in the earlier two holy dips at the Kumbh Mela with social distancing guidelines and Covid appropriate behaviour being completely disregarded.

But officials claimed a lower number of devotees attended the event as compared to previous years.

Kumbh Mela IG Sanjay Gunjyal told media persons that despite the Baisakhi snan is regarded as the biggest of all 4 Shahi Snans and 11 Snans of Kumbh combined, only 6 lakh people arrived this year for it. 

He went on to compare the number with the 2010 figures when over 1.6 crore people had arrived in the temple town.

With the spike in Covid cases in Haridwar, especially near the Kumbh Mela area, the Uttarakhand administration is facing flak over its handling of the mega religious event.

Between April 10 and April 13, over 1000 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the Kumbh Mela area.

On April 12, the day of the second Snan, over 30 lakh devotees turned up at the ghats for a dip. Of these, only 66,203 were tested.

The police had then claimed that a stampede may happen if physical distancing guidelines were to be enforced.

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