The Kanwad Yatra will not be held this year. However, devotees can undertake the rituals at the local level while observing necessary guidelines. This decision was taken unanimously in a video conference attended by chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat with the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday.
During the conference, the chief ministers of the three states discussed aspects of the Kanwad Yatra in detail. It was decided jointly in the meeting that in view of the situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Kanwad Yatra should not be held. Proposals to this effect had also been received from members of the religious fraternity and Kanwad groups. CM Rawat said that he also had a talk with the Union Home minister regarding this. The Union Home minister had also suggested that a decision be taken after serious discussion considering the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the video conference on Saturday, the chief ministers of the three states agreed that in order to stop the further spread of Covid-19, it is important to prevent people from congregating in large numbers. Devotees can conduct rituals at the local level while observing the necessary guidelines. Rawat said that soon, talks will be held with the Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Delhi and Punjab also on this subject.
Meanwhile, he thanked his Uttar Pradesh and Haryana counterparts for their cooperation.
Senior officials of the three states were also among those present in the video conference.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Kanwad Yatra was slated to begin in the first week of July.
The event sees lakhs of people from various states visiting Uttarakhand to fetch Ganga water for offering it in Shiva temples.