The Centre has issued guidelines for Kumbh Mela to be held at Haridwar in Uttarakhand amidst COVID-19 pandemic. All devotees willing to attend the fair have to register with Uttarakhand government. They are also required to obtain a compulsory medical certificate from Community Health Centre or district hospital or medical college in their state.
This year’s Kumbh Mela will be a 48-day-long event and the Uttarakhand government will issue the notification for the same by the end of this month. Duration of the Mela this year has been reduced to one and a half months instead of the usual three and a half months, due to the pandemic.
Haridwar railway station is being readied for devotees coming to attend the event. Several special trains will ply on various routes.
Centre has also approved the deployment of 40 companies of paramilitary forces, including seven companies each of the SSB and the CISF, six of the ITBP and 10 each of the BSF and the CRPF, for the mela. NSG commandos, snipers and bomb disposal squads with anti-sabotage sniffer dogs are also being deployed on the state government’s request.