Kumbh Mela 2021: Increase Number Of Daily COVID Testing To At Least 50K Persons Per Day: Uttarakhand High Court Directs Govt.

In view of the fact that a large population is about to visit the cities of Haridwar and Rishikesh for Kumbh Mela, the Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday (31st March) directed the State Government to increase the number of daily testing to at least 50,000 persons per day.

The Bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma has further directed the State Government to publish the data on the internet with regard to the number of persons found to be COVID-19 positive, and with regard to any death caused by COVID-19.

"The said data should also include the age group of persons, who are found to be COVID-19 positive, and those, who may, unfortunately, expire due to the said virus. The said data shall be published by the State Government on a daily basis," added the Court.

The Court also stressed that until and unless a larger section of the population is tested for the presence of COVID-19 virus, it would be impossible to detect the spread of the disease through a large population.

Apart from that, the Court perused the report submitted by the State Government which revealed that there is an absence of sanitization dispensers, manual dispensers, inadequate number of changing rooms and washrooms, lack of drinking water facilities, lack of testing kiosks for carrying out COVID-19 test, lack of CCTV cameras, and at many places the roads, leading to the Ghats, have yet to be constructed completely.

Another area of concern which the Court, in its order noted, was related to the poor condition of the Hospitals & medical services spread throughout the Kumbh Mela area.

Therefore, the Court directed that the Hospitals should be upgraded and should be given the required facilities so as to be able to tackle the re-emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Court also directed that a sufficient number of Jal Police should be deployed by the State Government so as to protect people from the possibility of drowning or being washed away by the rapid currents of the river.

Other significant directions issued by the Court

• Night shelters should not only be constructed and readied, but also be provided with mobile washrooms and urinals, and with drinking water facilities.
• Those who have taken their first dose of the vaccination, and are certified to be COVID19 negative, shall be permitted to enter the Kumbh Mela area.
• Encourage those, who are coming to the Kumbh Mela, 9 to take their first or second dose of the vaccine at the designated vaccination centres throughout the Kumbh Mela area.
• Ensure that the S.O.Ps. issued by the Central and the State Government must be adhered to strictly.
• Respondents to submit their report with regard to the steps being taken by the respondents for getting rid of the deficiencies pointed out in both the reports submitted

With these directions, the matter was posted for further hearing on 15th April.

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