Following the order of the Calcutta High Court to ensure that the COVID norms are followed, pilgrims attending the Gangasagar Mela were made to take RT-PCR test at Babu Ghat instead of Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) Was. However, many were still seen violating the Kovid protocol.
Pilgrims from Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and other states have come to West Bengal Travel by bus or trains, and many were seen roaming around without wearing masks and flouting social distancing norms.
A pilgrim said, “Mask? Mask cannot cure corona. There is no such thing as corona. The only way to live a better life is through religion.” Another who disapproved of the mask said, “These are all fools who wear masks.”
Despite repeated announcements by the police to wear masks, many of them have been seen queuing up at the vaccination centre.
The HC, after several hearings, allowed the religious congregation and ordered that the pilgrims must have a double vaccine certificate to enter the mela with a “negative” RTPCR. The test should be done 72 hours before travel.
The HC constituted a two-member committee consisting of former Justice Samasti Chatterjee and member secretary of the West Bengal Legal Services Authority, with opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari sacking the committee.
Committee members have already left Gangasagar and will report to HC. The court also asked the West Bengal government to declare Sagar Island as a notified area, where the annual fair is held, as COVID cases are increasing rapidly in the state.
The annual Ganga Sagar Mela held on Sagar Island in West Bengal during Makar Sankranti began on January 9.
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