Haridwar, June 20: On the occasion of Ganga Dussehra, Hundreds of people were seen flouting Covid norms as they gathered on the banks of Ganga in Haridwar, Uttarkhand, on Sunday. Similar scenes were witnessed in Farrukhabad city of Uttar Pradesh.
Covid-19 protocols were blatantly violated as devotees, without face masks on, jostled to take a dip at Panchal ghat in Farrukhabad.
Every year, people from nearby districts flock to Farrukhabad to celebrate the festival and take a dip in the river. The district administration made arrangements anticipating a huge rush of devotees but to no avail.
Meanwhile, in Haridwar, devotees took a dip at Har Ki Pauri ghat to observe Ganga Dussehra flouting Covid norms. Here too, people could be seen not taking proper precautions; they did not maintain social distancing on the ghat and waded into the river without masks.
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“We asked people to take holy dip at their homes. At the border, only people with negative RT-PCR certificates are being allowed. We’re urging people at ghat to follow Covid norms,” a Circle Officer said.
Ganga Dussehra is celebrated on the tenth day (Dashami) of the waxing phase of the moon (Shukla Paksha) in the Hindu month Jyeshtha, which also marks the day when Goddess Ganga is believed to have descended from the heavens to Earth.