Thousands Set To Throng Bengal Despite Covid As High Court Allows Holding Gangasagar Mela
NDTV
"We have also arranged for sprinkling of the holy water from drones so that there is no crowding ... but the sadhus are bent on taking the dip. We can't prevent them," said Bankim Chandra Hazra, a West Bengal minister.
Nearly one million devotees are expected to gather on the banks of the Ganges river this Friday and Saturday for a holy bathe despite galloping COVID-19 infections across the country, an official told Reuters on Tuesday.
India reported 168,063 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, a 20-fold rise in a month despite testing being well below capacity.
Most infected people have recovered at home and the level of hospitalisations has been less than half of that seen during the last major wave of infections in April and May.
Many states have announced night curfews while the capital Delhi has also imposed a weekend lockdown, closed private offices as well as restaurants and bars in a bid to rein in the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
