Sections of political leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday voiced concern about the Kumbh Mela’s potential to weaken the country’s fight against Covid-19 after lakhs of devotees and seers had congregated at the Haridwar Kumbh for days.

Modi, in a telephone conversation with Acharya Mahamandaleshwar Poojya Swamy Avdheshanand Giri Ji, requested that the Kumbh be kept “symbolic from now on as two Shahi Snans (holy bathing rituals) have already taken place,” the Press Information Bureau, the Centre’s public information office said.

“This will strengthen the fight against the pandemic,” the PIB quoted Modi as saying. The Acharya has replied respecting the Prime Minister’s request and has asked devotees not to come for bathing in large numbers and to follow Covid-19 appropriate precautions, the PIB said.

At present, there are around 20 lakh people, including sadhus and devotees, in the Mahakumbh mela area along the Ganga and they are to start returning home after the last Shahi Snan (royal bath) on April 27.

On Saturday evening, Swami Avdheshanand, mahamandaleshwar (supreme sadhu) of Sri Panch Dashnam Juna Akhara, tweeted in Hindi: “The people of India and the safety of their lives is our first priority. We have done the immersion of all the gods and goddess according to the rules of the Kumbh in view of the corona(virus) pandemic. The immersion is systematic closure of the Kumbh by Juna Akhara.”

He tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat in his tweet.

Avdheshanand, who is known for his proximity to the rich and the powerful, had in the morning tweeted: “We respect the appeal of the honourable Prime Minister ji. Saving the lives is a holy work. I appeal to the religious people not to come in large numbers for the holy bath and follow the rules.”

“How many days has the Kumbh Mela gone on already? This is a case of locking the stable when the horses have bolted,” Congress leader P. Chidambaram said.

The Kumbh had started on April 1 and has been allowed to go on although the country is in the grip of a brutal second wave of Covid.

Avdheshanand held a news conference in Haridwar mela area around 11am on Saturday and said: “Since only one Shahi Snan (April 27) is left, we have decided to do it symbolically.”

About an hour later, Srimahant Rajendra Das, head of Sri Panch Nirmohi Ani Akhara, told reporters in the mela area: “I had a long discussion with home minister Amit Shah today (Saturday). All the rules would be followed during the Shahi Snan of April 27. The saints would be there in limited numbers during the holy bath.”

On Friday, some sadhus of Niranjani, Sri Panchayati and Anand akharas had said they were disillusioned by the health management in the Kumbh and decided to conclude it in the interest of the people.

However, this was opposed by many akharas besides Swaroopanand Saraswati, Shankaracharya of both Dwarka Sharda Peetham in Gujarat and Jyotir Math in Badrinath. “The Kumbh will continue till April 30. It cannot be shortened,” he had said.

Gujarat’s chief minister Vijay Rupani and Mumbai’s mayor Kishori Pednekar on Saturday independently called for testing of those returning from the Kumbh.

Rupani said people returning to Gujarat after attending the Kumbh will have to undergo an RT-PCR test before they are allowed to enter their cities or villages, a Press Trust of India report said.

“Collectors of all districts in Gujarat have been directed to keep watch on the Kumbh Mela returnees and enforce a nakabandi (security check) to prevent their entry into their hometowns without an RT-PCR test,” Rupani said. “Officials have been directed to isolate those people found infected during testing.”

In Mumbai, mayor Pednekar said those returning from the Kumbh to their states will distribute the coronavirus as “prasad” and that the call for a stop to the Kumbh now “will not protect us.”

“All these people should be quarantined in their respective states at their own cost and tested,” Pednekar was quoted as saying by Asian News International. “In Mumbai also, we’re thinking of putting them under quarantine on their return.”

Public health experts have been worried about the potential impact of the Kumbh on the epidemic. The Union health ministry had last month cautioned the Uttarakhand government that the Kumbh could rapidly spread the virus given the significant number of daily Covid-19 positive cases detected among local residents and devotees ahead of the mela.