Ministry rushes team to review health arrangements at Kumbh

The health ministry has rushed a three-member expert team to review public health arrangements for Kumbh Mela beginning April 1 at Haridwar. The state government expects at least 1 million people to attend every day and 5 million on auspicious days.

The team would be headed by National Centre for Disease Control director Dr SK Singh and has additional director Dr SK Jain and deputy director Dr Meera Dhuria as members. The team will focus on implementation of standard operating procedures for Kumbh Mela. It will also review the implementation of the field level recommendations given to the state during its last visit a month back.

The visit gains significance in the wake of CM Tirath Singh Rawat’s remarks that RT-PCR test would not be required to attend Kumbh Mela. Health ministry’s SOPs issued on January 22 clearly state that every devotee would be required to undergo RT-PCR test 72 hours before attending the mela.