Uttarakhand begins Covid awareness drive ahead of Kumbh Mela; state to educate 11k people

Uttarakhand government on Friday launched a Coronavirus awareness drive in Haridwar in the area where the Kumbh Mela will be held. State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have deployed eight teams for the COVID-19 awareness campaign in the Kumbh Kshetra ahead of the Mela. As a part of the awareness campaign, more than eleven thousand local residents, devotees and other stakeholders will be educated on combating the COVID-19 situation.

"The SDRF has been running public awareness campaigns since the cases of COVID-19 started reporting in the state, but it is a priority to educate people about the ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19. To speed up the process, National Cadet Corps, National Service Scheme, and disaster management groups are also assisting us," the government said.

Various mediums such as banners and pamphlets will be involved in the awareness campaign and the SDRF is also mulling on connecting with people through SMS and LED video kits.

Uttarakhand has 3,309 active cases and as many as 1,555 people have succumbed to the infection, while 87,978 have recovered from the deadly virus.

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About the Kumbh Mela

The Maha Kumbh is celebrated in a span of 12 years at four river-banks pilgrimages, one of which falls in the jurisdiction of Uttarakhand state government. The Mela is organised at the banks of river Ganga at Haridwar which is in Uttarakhand. Other three sites are the Prayagraj(confluence of Ganges - Yamuna - Sarasvati rivers), Nashik (at river Godavari), and Ujjain (at river Shipra).

During Kumbh Mela, thousands of devotees from various parts of the world take a holy dip in the rivers. This year will be in the 11th year of the cycle and the Mela will begin from on the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti i.e. January 14 and will continue till April end. Kumbh Mela is also said to be the biggest religious gatherings across the globe.

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