Earlier this year, India watched as Kumbh Mela festivities, coupled with Assembly elections in multiple states, heralded the second wave of Covid-19 infections in India. Now, as daily cases are declining, the country seems to be inviting another surge of infections. Amid visuals of tourists crowding in hill stations without masks and social distancing, the spectre of the Kanwar Yatra has emerged. The Uttar Pradesh government has given permission to Shiv devotees to undertake their pilgrimage to Haridwar, but the destination state of Uttarakhand is yet to make up its mind on the issue. Hindustan Times senior editor Aditi Prasad discusses why the hill state's new Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami should put his foot down on the politically sensitive issue with Dr Ajay Khanna of IMA Uttarakhand, SDC founder and Dehradun-based social worker Anoop Nautiyal, author Shantanu Gupta, and HT senior resident editor Sunita Aron.
