Our surrounding environment has been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The second wave of COVID-19 in India has proven to be more devastating and aggressive than the first wave of the pandemic, which led to recognizing India as one of the world's topmost worst-hit nations considering >4000 fatalities reported in a single day in May 2021. Such “resurgence and acceleration” of COVID-19 transmission has been fuelled by the MahaKumbh festival and political mass gathering (elections rallies) events, where the COVID-19 protocols have been ignored by millions of pilgrims/followers. The present review discusses only the consequences of this year's MahaKumbh festivals, the largest religious mass gathering on earth, which was held during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, and its impact on both the spread of SARS-CoV-2 among participants and their families and its influence on the quality of the river Ganga. This article tries to give readers outside of India an overview of how much impact of any such single large gathering of any relgion in any part of the world can drive coronavirus infections and effectively commence the second/third wave outbreak with this case study. Furthermore, the religious large scale celebration are widely accepted through out the world that have played a significant role in the spread of the pandemic into remote villages and towns all over the subcontinent/world, thus affecting many areas with insufficient healthcare facilities that have been relatively spared. This review also highlights the potential risk of transmission from infected humans into the aquatic environment of the river Ganga. Besides the obvious relevance of SARS-CoV-2, a large variety of other water-related disease vectors (bacteria, viruses, and protozoa) stemming from visitors to the religious congregation were introduced into the upstream regions of the Ganga river. Their sheer number is assumed to have had a severe influence on its delicate ecosystem, including endangered mammals such as the river Dolphins. The detailed epidemiological and clinical study on transmission routes of SARS-CoV-2 is the need of the hour to understand the pathogenesis of RNA virus infection and prevent the massive spreading of such infectious respiratory diseases. An interdisciplinary approach, rooted in evidence-based efficient learning, contextual strategies, and a streamlined unified approach should be adopted to help in the development of a proactive prevention model during future MahaKumbh festival (and similar religious gatherings) instead of just “picking up the pieces” in a conventional post-event model.

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The studies related to air pollution and its association with human health over the mountainous region are of utmost importance, and are sparse especially over the Himalayan region of India. This study gives an understanding of increase in the occurrence of respiratory diseases due to the accumulation of pollutants during winter season in the Himalayan region (Kashmir valley). The linkages between various atmospheric variables and clinically validated data have been done using various datasets procured from the satellite, model reanalysis and surface observations. Monthly managed data from 2013-2017 for upper and lower respiratory tract infections is obtained from the Ministry of health, Government of India. Aerosol optical depth, air temperature, and wind speed are signi cantly related (p <0.001) to the incidence of acute respiratory infections with its peak during winter. Model derived particulate matters having aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 µm (PM 2.5 ) shows high contribution of black carbon, organic carbon and sulphate during winter. This is mainly due to the burning of biomass and biofuels (both indoor and outdoor) with low planetary boundary layer height, accumulating high air pollution and deteriorating air quality during winter months that affects the respiratory health of the habitants. The wind roses generated shows the passage of winds from western side of the region surrounded by Pir panjal Himalayan sub division. Concentrated weighted trajectory analysis has shown that most of the winds coming from the western side are taking southward direction before reaching the study area and may be bringing pollutants from Indo-Gangetic Plain. Our study shows that the accumulation of pollutants in the Himalayan valley is owing to the meteorological stability with signi cant emissions from burning of biomass and biofuels during winter season, that signi cantly correlated with the incidence of acute respiratory infections in the region.

The studies related to air pollution and its association with human health over the mountainous region are of utmost importance, and are sparse especially over the Himalayan region of India. This study gives an understanding of increase in the occurrence of respiratory diseases due to the accumulation of pollutants during winter season in the Himalayan region (Kashmir valley). The linkages between various atmospheric variables and clinically validated data have been done using various datasets procured from the satellite, model reanalysis and surface observations. Monthly managed data from 2013-2017 for upper and lower respiratory tract infections is obtained from the Ministry of health, Government of India. Aerosol optical depth, air temperature, and wind speed are significantly related (p <0.001) to the incidence of acute respiratory infections with its peak during winter. Model derived particulate matters having aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) shows high contribution of black carbon, organic carbon and sulphate during winter. This is mainly due to the burning of biomass and biofuels (both indoor and outdoor) with low planetary boundary layer height, accumulating high air pollution and deteriorating air quality during winter months that affects the respiratory health of the habitants. The wind roses generated shows the passage of winds from western side of the region surrounded by Pir panjal Himalayan sub division. Concentrated weighted trajectory analysis has shown that most of the winds coming from the western side are taking southward direction before reaching the study area and may be bringing pollutants from Indo-Gangetic Plain. Our study shows that the accumulation of pollutants in the Himalayan valley is owing to the meteorological stability with significant emissions from burning of biomass and biofuels during winter season, that significantly correlated with the incidence of acute respiratory infections in the region.

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