Following the guidelines issued on the weekend by the Dehradun district administration, the Jhanda Mela organising committee has started taking measures in accordance with the guidelines. The committee has also conducted RT-PCR test of the devotees who arrived on foot here from Punjab before the issuance of the guidelines by the administration. According to the guidelines issued by the administration, a negative report of RT-PCR test conducted within the last 72 hours is compulsory for devotees arriving here from other States to participate in Jhanda Mela. The administration has also directed the Mela committee to install banners and posters displaying information like Covid-19 guidelines, control room number among other necessary information besides raising awareness on the Covid-19 contagion. The district administration has also suggested that senior citizens, people with comorbidities and children below 10 years of age should not participate in the event considering them to be at higher risk of Covid-19 contagion. The administration has asked the Mela organisers in the guidelines to limit the time of the event in order to avoid the higher risk of contagion among the devotees and local residents. As stated by the additional district magistrate (ADM), Bir Singh Budiyal, it is the responsibility of the Mela committee to ensure the implementation of the Covid-19 guidelines among the devotees arriving from other States and at the location of the event.
According to the K C Juyal of the Jhanda Mela organising committee, a team of Mahant Indiresh Hospital has taken samples of about 80 devotees for RT-PCR test who recently arrived in Dehradun before the administration had issued any guidelines related to the event. He said that lakhs of devotees arrive every year for Jhanda Mela but the committee has appealed to devotees to arrive in limited numbers this year.
Talking about limiting the time and the magnitude of the event as per the district administration’s instructions, Juyal said that that the committee is still in talks with the administration and will soon disclose the set-up of the event. He said that the committee is following all the guidelines so far and added that they also expect that the devotees would consider the appeal and unlike the past years, they would arrive in limited numbers only.
It is pertinent to mention here that the historical Jhanda Mela will be held from April 2 in Dehradun.
Monday, 29 March 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
