Ram Tirath Mela ends, guidelines breached

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 6

The 10-day Ram Tirath Mela being held at ancient hermitage site of sage Valmiki concluded here on Sunday.

Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Asthan, situated at Ram Tirath area, is believed to be the same site where Bhagwan Valmiki had composed the epic Ramayana and given refuge to Sita. This is where she had given birth to Luv and Kush.

The devotees took a dip in its holy sarvoar. However, a majority of them were not wearing masks and social distancing was nowhere to be seen for the place was packed. People from different parts of Punjab visit the shrine to pay obeisance during the mela. The SAD-BJP government, keeping in view the popularity and antiquity of the shrine, had laid the foundation stone to raise the Bhagwan Valmiki temple at a cost of Rs115 crore in 2013. A water treatment plant to clean the water of the holy sarovar was also installed.

The district administration had made elaborate arrangements to hold a trouble-free fair – cops were deployed heavily for security, while fire tenders and a booth for first aid was also set up.

4 Covid deaths, 86 new cases reported in district

With four deaths reported in the district due to the Covid-19 on Sunday, the toll has increased to 514. The health authorities also reported 86 new positive cases, taking the total count to 13,509. The new cases include 35 influenza-like illness cases and 51 contacts of positive patients. Meanwhile with recovery of 57 patients, the count has reached 12,255. The district at present has a total of 740 active cases.