Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that the Kanwar Yatra is not a one-state affair and the state government will take a decision on the yatra after discussing with other states, including Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The UP government has already announced that it will allow the yatra from July 25.
Meanwhile, experts claim the Kanwar yatra could be five times more likely to be a superspreader event than the Kumbh mela last year in April. They say that the risk of spread of Covid-19 infection is higher in Kanwar yatra than the Kumbh as the number of devotees undertaking the yatra is likely to be significantly higher than those who attended Kumbh.
The ''Kanwar Yatra'' is an annual pilgrimage of Lord Shiva's devotees. This time every year during the Hindu calendar month of ''Saavan'', thousands of devotees from across India, undertake the pilgrimage. The footfall for Kanwar yatra in the previous years has ranged between 2 crore and 5 crore, according to reports.