PATIALA: The Bhartiya Kisan Mazdoor Union, Anandpur Sahib,, has announced a Hola Mohalla conference on March 28 without getting permission from the government. The union claims it waited 10 days, and will now hold event whether it gets the permit or not. This is when the Covid situation has gone serious in Ropar.
Hola Mohalla began on Wednesday with ‘Akhand Path’ at Kiratpur Sahib in Ropar district and the march of pilgrims to Anandpur Sahib has started. The crowd will swell to several lakh between March 24 and 29. Union convener Shamsher Singh said: “Our conference is on March 28 in Anandpur Sahib. Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) of Delhi is invited and farmer unionists Darshanpal, Gurnam Singh Charuni, and J S Dalewal will address the crowd. We will not wait for a nod from the district administration, which has sat on our request since March 15.”
The convener added: “Hola Mohalla was always a political stage, except last year.” Anandpur Sahib SDM Kanu Garg appealed to the union to wait for permission, as the request was under consideration. No political conference was being held, and no party even sought permission.
The Ropar administration has asked foreign pilgrims to carry a Covid-negative report not older than 48 hours. Guests at inns and hotels should also get tested, while travel agents have been asked to motivate foreign pilgrims to get examinied. Ropar health department has deployed 14 teams for voluntary random samplings. SDM said: “We cannot force pilgrims, but we appeal them to get tested and help us meet out 1,000 daily random sampling target.”
The Virasat-e-Khalsa memorial will be open from 8am to 8pm. “The timings were extended for pilgrims but they’ll be ushered in only batches of 200. They’ll also need a pass. This is to ensure social distancing,” the SDM said. Ropar DC Sonali Giri said: “So far, we have received no foreign pilgrim for testing, but celebrations have just started and there’s not much crowd on first day. Hotel guests must either undergo Covid test or carry a negative report.”
Of the 1,57,423 samples collected from the district, so far, 4,675 have tested positive. And 82 of those reports came on Wednesday, when 30,902 patients recovered.
The district active cases are 584, while 1,195 sample reports are pending. The DC said the Covid situation in past 15 days had become worrisome and the government should issue people general guideline to wear mask and maintaining social distancing.