Poornagiri Mela cancelled for the year due to Covid-19

Tanakpur (Champawat): The Champawat district administration has decided to terminate the Poornagiri fair before the scheduled time this year in view of the outbreak of novel Coronavirus. The decision was taken after a meeting with the office-bearers of the Poornagiri Mela Samiti.

"After a meeting in Banbasa, the district magistrate of Champawat has issued an order to terminate the Poornagiri fair due to Covid-19 scare. The administration will now start the work of removing government facilities installed in the fair complex,” Dayanand Saraswati, sub-divisional magistrate of Tanakpur, told TOI.

The Poornagiri fair, which starts from the next day of Holi every year, was suspended for some time due to the previous lockdown call. The officials wanted to resume the fair, which started on March 16 this year, after the threat of coronavirus outbreak subsides. But now, the fair has been cancelled for the year in view of the ongoing crisis.

The office-bearers of Poornagiri temple committee have also welcomed the decision. Bhuvan Pandey, president of the committee, told TOI, "The fair has now been officially cancelled due to coronavirus. Now, darshan (visit) and other public functions in the temple will be resumed only after the lockdown is lifted.''

Notably, thousands of people come to Poornagiri fair from several areas of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal every year. Many traders involved in the fair will have to bear losses due to the decision. Saraswati has said that the administration is still assessing the loss due to an early termination of the fair.


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