Uttarakhand's Haldwani gears up to celebrate Janmashtami amid COVID-19

Haldwani (Uttarakhand) [India], August 12 (ANI): Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, locals in Uttarakhand's Haldwani have geared up to celebrate Janmashtami in different ways with high spirits.
"We are celebrating a little bit differently this year because of the pandemic. We are doing our best to adhere to the government's guidelines very strictly and are being very careful that people wear masks and maintain social distancing. Very few people have come this year due to fear of infection," a temple pujari told ANI.

Visuals from Haldwani showed colourful decorations in and around the temple premises. According to a temple volunteer, the streets were not decorated as it usually is because not many people were expected to come out due to the pandemic.

"We have decorated the inside of the temple as we do every year but not the outside because we knew that only a few people would leave their houses to celebrate Janmashtami. A team of about 5-10 volunteers are making sure that the people who do come follow proper guidelines, and use hand sanitizers and wear facemasks," he further said.
He added, "Every year, artists from Haldwani come to perform for the temples' audience. They will come this year too, but will perform from a barricaded area inside."

Local shops, however, did not share the same cheerful spirit. Empty streets and less movement of people meant an unfruitful day for small shopkeepers.

"We have been setting up our shop here for over 15 years and have never seen such bare streets on Janmashtami. Massive crowds used to gather around our store and we could earn between Rs 10,000 to 20,000 in one day. Today I have made just Rs 200 since the morning," a shopkeeper said. (ANI)