New Delhi: Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has announced that residents of the national capital, returning from Haridwar after attending Kumbh Mela, will have to mandatorily stay in home quarantine for 14 days after return.


This order comes as several states brace themselves to deal with the potential Covid spread after lakhs of devotees who attended Kumbh return back home.


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All Delhi residents, who visited Haridwar's Kumbh from April till today are required to upload details such as name, Delhi address, contact number, ID proof, date of departure from Delhi, and arrival on the link at Delhi government portal (www.delhi.gov.in).


Locals who are planning to or will be travelling today up till April 30 are also required to provide the said information on the government's website.


Those who fail to provide these details before return to Delhi will be sent to an institutional quarantine centre for 14 days. "If it is found that any such resident of Delhi who has returned to Delhi after visiting Kumbh 2021, has not uploaded the requisite details, he/she shall be sent to the Institutional Government Quarantine Centre for 14 days," the order reads.



(Photo: ANI)


Maharashtra which has already been battling a serious Covid-19 situation for a while is also concerned over the matter. In a conversation with ANI, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar was quoted as saying: "Those returning from Kumbh Mela to their respective states will distribute Coronavirus as 'prasad'".


Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Saturday announced that pilgrims returning from Kumbh Mela won't be given direct entry into their villages and towns as they will first, undergo RT-PCR test for Covid-19 and then will be quarantined and isolated for 14 days in case they are found positive.


While briefing the media in Jamnagar on Saturday, the Gujarat CM said: "The administration is doing all it can to curb the spread of the coronavirus and ensure that minimum people gets infected in the state. In this context, all the returnees from the Kumbh Mela will not be allowed a direct entry into the villages and towns".


"Every one of them will be RT-PCR tested and if found positive, will be isolated for 14 days before letting them go to their places. We have instructed all the district collectors regarding this decision so that the administration can prepare itself for such entrants and ensure that such people do not get access to their villages and towns," the CM added.


(With Inputs From Agencies)