Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday suspended the Kanwar Yatra. The move comes a day after the Supreme Court on Friday asked the state government to inform by July 19 whether it would reconsider its decision to organize the “symbolic” Kanwar Yatra.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday took suo moto cognizance of the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to allow ‘Kanwar Yatra’ amid COVID-19 and asked the Center and the state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to give their feedback on the issue.
The Central government on Friday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that state governments should not allow the movement of kanwariyas to bring ‘Ganga water’ from Haridwar in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Central Government informed the Supreme Court that tankers are to be made available at identified/designated places so that nearby devotees can collect such ‘Ganga Jal’ and perform ‘Abhishek’ at their nearest Shiva temples.
The Uttaranchal branch of the IMA had written a letter to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on July 9, requesting him not to undertake the Kanwar Yatra this year. Later the state government decided to cancel the yatra in view of the pandemic.
The Kanwar Yatra, in which Shiva devotees from northern states offer to collect water from the Ganges river in Haridwar by foot or other means, at Shiva temples in their regions, is scheduled to begin on July 25.
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