The Uttarakhand government is all set to release the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the Haridwar Maha Kumbh, scheduled to commence on February 27.

According to the chief secretary (CS) Om Prakash, the government plans to put a cap on the number of visitors to be allowed at the mela site as a crowd-control measure. Prakash also informed that the state had requested the railways not to run any special trains for Kumbh so that the number of visitors to the two-month-long event is limited.

This is less than a week after the Central government made RT-PCR tests mandatory for Kumbh visitors. The move extinguished the hopes of local businessmen and tour operators who were hoping for a revival of tourist footfall during the mega fair.

“The state is simply following the guidelines issued by the Centre, which made it clear in its recently-released guidelines that the number of pilgrims at Kumbh has to be limited. The maximum number of visitors to be allowed per day at Kumbh will be announced shortly. The final number will be fixed after a report of the capacity of all ghats in the city is shared by Kumbh Mela officials. We will also announce the exact duration of the fair, which may get shorter,” Prakash informed.

The state until recently planned to hold Kumbh Mela for two months but after the Centre’s SOPs were released, the duration is expected to be around 48 days only. A Kumbh usually starts in January and lasts four months.

As for special trains for Kumbh, Prakash said a letter had been sent to the Railways on Friday, urging authorities to not run special trains for devotees to the Kumbh site. “Chief minister Trivendra Rawat will be speaking to CMs of neighboring states early next week to seek cooperation from them in the proper management of Haridwar Kumbh,” the CS added.

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