Uttar Pradesh: Covid norms go for toss at Saryu Ghats

AYODHYA: The Ayodhya administration issued challans to about 350 devotees for taking a holy dip in the Saryu as they broke the Covid-19 protocol by flouting the social distancing norm and moving without face masks.
Devotees in large numbers gathered on the Saryu banks on Sunday evening after the solar eclipse ended. Earlier, there was a ban on taking a holy dip in the Saryu as according to the district administration "novel coronavirus infection spreads rapidly in water."
But after the government decided to open religious places, the district administration too turned a little lenient, allowing five devotees at a time to take a holy dip. However, breaking the Covid protocol thousands of devotees turned up at the river banks on Sunday evening to perform rituals When the TOI contacted Ayodhya district magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha for his reaction over maintenance of the Covid protocol, he refused to comment.
Ayodhya SSP Ashish Tiwari said that "people had gathered at 'Ram ki Pairi' and 'Naya Ghat' to perform rituals. To avoid the police force, which was deployed in adequate numbers on the main roads, devotees opted for narrow lanes and bylanes to reach the river banks. But when the police saw their movement they immediately started the evacuation and issued challans to about 350 devotees for breaking Covid-19 protocol."