With Section 144 in place amid the surge in COVID-19 cases in Varanasi on the occasion of Holi, the Ganga ghats in the city remained desolate on Monday morning as people refrained from venturing out to celebrate the festival. The police have put a ban on the operations of boat services at all the ghats in Varanasi.

"Police are requesting the public to celebrate the festival safely and follow all the guidelines put forth by the local administration," said a policeman. The police officials also are not letting people take holy dips in the deep waters of the Ganges.

Himanshu, a local resident, said, "I come to Ganga ghat every year on Holi. This year, it seems that there is no Holi." In fact, more policemen were seen on the ghats than the people playing Holi.

In the last three days, there has been a threefold increment in the cases of COVID-19 in Varanasi. As many as 68,020 coronavirus fresh infections and 291 related deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total caseload of the country to over 1.20 crore, the union health ministry informed on Monday morning.