At least 7.11 lakh devotees from across the nation took ceremonial dip in the Ganga at Har Ki Paidi and other ghats in Haridwar on the occasion of Makar Sankranti on Thursday- the first major festival in the Kumbh Mela year. Amidst Covid-19 and foggy conditions, multitudes thronged the Ganga ghats with devotees starting to arrive after 12 AM on Wednesday despite the cold. As the sun rose and the fog began to clear, more people began to arrive at the ghats from the hotels, Dharmshalas and Ashrams in the Kumbh Mela area. The police personnel posted on the ghats acted on the idea of ‘three dips, one bath’ and consistently emptied the ghats of those who had taken the dips to make way for the new arrivals. In view of the Covid-19 risk, the police also focused on observance of the Covid guidelines in the Kumbh Mela area.
According to official sources, about 974 persons were penalised in the Kumbh Mela area for violation of the Covid guidelines. The personnel of the intelligence department were also on alert, checking suspicious items and frisking those appearing suspicious. To deal with any untoward situation, personnel of the central paramilitary forces and provincial armed constabulary were also posted at various locations. Five teams of the bomb disposal squad along with their sniffer dogs also conducted anti-sabotage checks at Har Ki Paidi and other sensitive locations from time to time. Apart from this, the entire Kumbh Mela area was kept under surveillance using 1,150 private/institutional CCTV cameras and 96 police CCTV cameras.
Meanwhile, at Triveni Ghat in Rishikesh the flag of lord Badrinath and goddess Ganga were worshipped on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. Thousands of devotees were present on Triveni Ghat on the occasion. A large number of Dev Dolis- palanquins carrying representations of deities from the mountains also took ceremonial dips in the Ganga on the occasion. It was decided that all the Dev Dolis will arrive in Rishikesh on April 26. On April 27, all the Dev Dolis along with the flag of lord Badrinath will take ceremonial Kumbh Mela dip in the Ganga at Haridwar.
