E-Paper
Magh Mela 2023: Preparations reviewed for Makar Sankranti ‘snan’
The bathing festival of Makar Sankranti is set to be observed on Saturday and Sunday (January 14 and 15)
With a view to ensuring smooth and safe conduct of Makar Sankranti ‘snan’—the second of the total six bathing festivals of the ongoing Magh Mela—the district and the mela administration has made a foolproof plan for the convenience of pilgrims coming to the annual event underway on the banks of Sangam.
The bathing festival of Makar Sankranti is set to be observed on Saturday and Sunday (January 14 and 15). A meeting related to system and disaster management was held on Thursday evening under additional director general of police Bhanu Bhaskar.
Several major decisions, including developing the holding area for crowd management at railway stations and bus stands, providing information related to arrival and departure of trains, establishing inter-departmental coordination, operationalising Covid helpdesks at all 17 entrances points of the fair and at all 17 ghats etc, were taken at the meeting.
Instructions have been given to ensure all arrangements for temporary stay of people there. Suggestions for making available information related to arrival and departure of trains on various LED screens installed in the mela area and to activate all four holding areas at Prayagraj junction station during rush hours and prevent unnecessary crowd from leaving or going to railway stations and bus stands were also finalised, said officials aware of the matter.
Senior officials also observed the contingency plan prepared by the railways and instructed to make a list of all inter-departmental senior officials related to crowd management and make it available to everyone along with their phone numbers. “The responsibility of 14 holding areas being built in Prayagraj city has been given to the additional district magistrate (city),” they added.
Instructions were also given to do intensive checking of all the passengers coming from outside and to make the passengers and devotees aware through public address systems at the main places.
Likewise, identification of ambulance and nearest hospital for immediate treatment, keeping the medical response team ready for every situation, activating green corridor in case of emergency, increasing the number of ambulances and station them at strategic locations, preparing a contingency plan in case of a stampede and saving people in case of fire accidents were all discussed in the all-important meeting, said a senior official who attended the meeting.
In view of Covid threat, officials have also been directed to ensure strict compliance of the instructions issued by the central and the state governments regarding wearing of facemasks and following social distancing.
The chief medical officer (CMO) has been asked to keep the medical response team ready to be able to deal with every situation. Standard operating procedure to meet any untoward incident was also finalised.
At present, around 30 ambulances have been deployed in the mela area. However, in view of the expected crowd of over 15 lakh for Makar Sankranti ‘snan’, senior officials have given instructions to increase their number as much as possible by taking help even from private hospitals.
The CMO has been instructed to conduct a rehearsal of the medical department before the bathing fest and ensure medicines for cold, heart and lung related diseases available in the dispensary.
To save people from fire accidents, 14 fire stations have been set up in the mela area and 50 motor boards and 100 man rowed boats have been arranged by water police. They will be used to ensure overall security and safety of pilgrims taking a dip during the fair.
Inspector general of police Chandra Prakash, additional commissioner of police Akash Kulhari, district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Khatri, mela adhikari Arvind Kumar Chauhan and other officers concerned were present in the meeting.
