Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami on Thursday said that the decision to cancel this year’s Kanwar Yatra in the state was taken to save lives of the people during the Covid-19 pandemic. Talking to India Today TV, Dhami said, “We have cancelled Kanwar Yatra in our state because protecting people’s lives is our priority.”
“People’s security is our top priority. That’s the reason why we cancelled the Kanwar Yatra even before the Supreme Court order. We will also inform the court about our stand,” he added.
The Uttarakhand government on Tuesday evening announced that this year’s Kanwar Yatra has been called off. The announcement ended days of speculation that the Pushkar Dhami-led government may reverse the decision taken by the previous Tirath Rawat administration on cancelling the yatra.
“At a time when the threat of Covid-19 is still looming and a case of the Delta-plus variant has also been reported from Uttarakhand, we cannot allow Haridwar to become a hotbed of the pandemic,” Dhami said according to a Times of India report.
“People’s lives are important and we cannot play around with them. It is important to save lives during a pandemic. Even god will not like it if any lives are lost.”
This is the second year in succession that the kanwar yatra has been cancelled. Last year, too, the Trivendra Rawat government had decided not to hold the yatra in view of the Covid-19 situation.
Supreme Notice To Uttar Pradesh Government:
The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice RF Nariman on Wednesday took suo moto cognizance of the decision of Uttar Pradesh Government to allow Kanwar Yatra amid the COVID pandemic. The bench has issued notice to Union Government and UP Govt. Matter will be heard on Friday.
The neighboring state of Uttarakhand yesterday decided to call off the Kanwar Yatra, citing the pandemic risk. However, Uttar Pradesh has decided to allow the pilgrimage yatra with certain curbs.
The yatra is proposed to be held from July 25 to August 6. As per a report in the Indian Express, the last time the yatra was organised in 2019, nearly 3.5 crore devotees (kanwariyas) had visited Haridwar while over 2-3 crore people had visited pilgrimage spots in Western UP.