Makar Sankranti 2022: No holy dips in Ganga in Haridwar, night curfew imposed - check curbs

Night curfew to be imposed from 10 pm to 6am on January 14, while entry at 'Har ki Pauri' area has also been restricted

Pic courtesy: ANI (file photo)

Dehradun: Amid the Covid-19 spread across the country and a rapid surge in Omicron variant, the Uttarakhand government had impelemented strict curbs in Haridwar for Makar Sankranti.

The Haridwar district administration has put a complete ban on devotees taking holy dips on Makar Sankranti, which is on January 14. "Entry at 'Har ki Pauri' area has also been restricted. Night curfew to be imposed from 10 pm to 6am on January 14," said Vinay Shankar Pandey, DM, Haridwar.

Uttarakhand | Haridwar district administration has put a complete ban on devotees taking holy dips on 'Makar Sankranti', 14 January. Entry at 'Har ki Pauri' area has also been restricted. Night curfew to be imposed from 10 pm- 6am on Jan 14: Vinay Shankar Pandey, DM, Haridwar pic.twitter.com/5qgTVfGRXW — ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 11, 2022

India logged 1,68,063 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,58,75,790 which includes 4,461 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday (January 11).

The active cases rose to 8,21,446, the highest in 208 days, while the death toll climbed to 4,84,213 with 277 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. Of the total 4,461 cases of the Omicron variant, 1,711 people have recovered or migrated so far.

Meanwhile, even in Karnataka no relaxations in curbs are likely for Sankranti. Citing spike in COVID-19 cases in Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday ruled out easing restrictions at places with less positivity rate. He instead stressed the need to take extra precautions. "No...What I had said is that depending on the COVID spread we will take a decision. Now you are seeing, yesterday there were 12,000 cases in the state, nearly 9,000 were only in Bengaluru. Positivity rate in the state is at 6.8 per cent, in Bengaluru it is 10 per cent, in the whole country we are in third place," Bommai said in response to a question on plans to relax COVID restrictions in some districts by Sankranti.

(With ANI inputs)