“The Uttarakhand government has suspended Char Dham Yatra this year in view of COVID-19 situation in the state. Only priests of the four temples will perform rituals and puja,” Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat said.  While Uttarakhand had recorded the highest single-day spike of 6,054 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the total count to 1,68,616, while 108 deaths pushed the toll to 2,417. There are 45,383 active COVID-19 cases in the state, while 1,17,221 have recovered, a state health department bulletin.

The COVID storm raged with the country reporting 3,79,257 new coronavirus cases while the total number of cases rose to 1,83,76,524, according to Union Health Ministry. The number of active cases has surpassed the 3,084,814 mark and total deaths in a single day +3,647 revealing an escalating out of control situation

Uttarakhand had recorded the highest single-day spike of 6,054 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the tally to 1,68,616, while 108 deaths pushed the toll to +3,647 yesterday. There are 45,383 active COVID-19 cases in the state, while 1,17,221 have recovered, according to the state health department bulletin.

The four pilgrimage sites are Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri in Uttarakhand. Over the generations, lakhs of people attend this yatra but the attendance had fallen last year, given the COVID-19 situation. It was recorded over 38 lakh pilgrims in 2019, while only 4.2 lakh visited in 2020.

Earlier in April in Uttarkhand, the world’s largest pilgrimage with an attendance of over 2 million Hindu devotees saw sharp spikes in COVID cases and one top seer died as a result of COVID from the Kumbh Mela.  Niranjani Akhara, an influential sect of Hindu saints part of Kumbh Mela, then decided to end their pilgrimage.

The Chardham Yatra (four abodes) is an annual pilgrimage to the holy shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri. Over the generations, lakhs of people attend this yatra but the attendance had fallen last year, given the COVID-19 situation. It was recorded over 38 lakh pilgrims in 2019, while only 4.2 lakh visited in 2020.

Concerned citizens remarked that they were relieved to see that good sense prevailed over a dangerous decision. Presently, the overflowing hospitals are overwhelmed with collapsing healthcare  There is a serious lack of oxygen and medicines, while masses waiting outside hospitals as there no hospital beds.

Barkha Dutt, a senior journalist who recently lost her father to COVID said they had to “fight” for an ICU bed and even a small space on the crematorium grounds.  Fighting back tears she said that if she as an upper-middle-class privileged Indian faced such problems, she could not even imagine what the common citizen must be facing daily.

There are massive collective burials and cremations all over the nation that reveal the intensity in which COVID is raging over India indicating the country is in a very red hot danger zone and just cannot afford to hold rallies, yatras, pilgrimages and ceremonies, and other such mega gatherings in this dark hour.

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