Order of the High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital dated 23/06/2021 regarding preparedness of the state to deal with the third wave of Covid-19, rising black fungus cases and opening of the Char Dham Yatra.

The High Court expressed its dissatisfaction at the affidavit furnished by Amit Negi, Secretary, Medical Health and Family Welfare by calling it incomplete and directed him to clarify the many points raised by the court -

• on whether sufficient quantities of micronutrients have been procured or not,
• creation of isolation centres at the panchayat/village level,
• the number of beds which would be available at such isolation centres, t
• the number of pediatricians, who are working at the district hospitals throughout the state and other points.

The High Court of Uttarakhand, June 23, 2021 directed the state government to review its decision to commence the Char Dham Yatra on July 1, 2021 and asked the state to postpone or cancel it, as done by the Jammu & Kashmir administration with respect to Amarnath Yatra.

The court noted that the holding of Kumbh Mela and in permitting a large congregation of lakhs of people on Ganga Dussehra at Har-ki-Pauri at Haridwar were clear proof of the failure of the Civil Administration to administer the the precautionary standard operating procedure (SOP) prescribed by the Central government and the state government. "Once the devotees start gathering in large number, invariably the first victim is the SOP itself; the second victims are the people at large," the order passed by the bench of Justices Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Alok Kumar Verma of the High Court of Uttarakhand said.