The Uttarakhand High Court came down heavily at the State government after observing violation of COVID appropriate behaviour at Badrinath and Kedarnath.
The bench took up the responsibility of addressing this matter upon seeing the online darshan facility which had been facilitated by the state government for the devotees who wish to be a part of the Char Dham yatra.
The bench made critical observations for allowing Kumbh Mela in the middle of pandemic where over 10 million devotees congregated for several weeks.
The bench stated that the state government failed to ensure compliance of COVID protocols in the temples and religious festivals. The bench highlighted that the concerned priests were not maintaining social distance while worshipping in the temple.
The bench inquired the government as to who had been appointed to monitor the compliance of COVID protocol at temples as almost 23 priests were seen entering the same temple premises for worshipping the deity.
The Chief Justice of Uttarakhand HC remarked that such videos caused an embarrassment to the state. The bench also slammed the government for not providing an information about the steps to implement the SOPs for Char Dham.
The bench also stated that first the government allowed Kumbh Mela and now gave permission for conducting Char Dham without following the COVID protocols, when the whole country is trying to combat second wave of COVID.
The bench reminded the government about various variants of COVID, like Black Fungus, and stated that the decision-makers had been careless and were accountable to the general public, along with the judiciary.
The bench asked the government to make sure proper and qualified medical staff is appointed and that the SOPs are strictly followed.
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