Devotees throng Vrindavan's Banke Bihari temple, flout COVID-19 norms

Lakhs of devotees from different parts of the country and abroad thronged Mathura's Banke Bihari temple on the occasion of the New Year amid COIVID-19 protocols going for a toss.

In the wake of increasing COVID-19 infections during the New Year, devotees were asked to follow COVID-19 protocols of wearing face masks. Some were seen without masks or mask hanging under their mouth.

The temple administration is asking people to follow COVID-19 protocols from time to time. On the other hand, the Goswami of the temple is requesting the devotees to follow the guideline of Covid-19 amidst rising Covid cases. "In the next few days I will urge the devotees to come less in number as it becomes very difficult to manage crowd while COVID-19 cases are increasing", said Ashish Goswami, who is managing temple services.

However, the temple administration's appeal has failed to make any visible impact on devotees and policemen. The policemen employed near the temple are seen pushing away the crowd by their hands without wearing masks.

On the other hand, in view of the devotees reaching in large numbers in Mathura Vrindavan, the police administration claimed it has taken Covid precautions while managing the crowd.

At the same time, the Health Department is continuously claiming to increase the testing, but in such a situation, the question arises that by the time the report of the sampling comes, the devotees will have been infected without knowing as many people are coming sans a mask.

( With inputs from ANI )

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