Magh Mela: Over 41.50 lakh pilgrims take dip at Sangam on Basant Panchami
We focused on better crowd management and traffic movement for which different parking sites were made, said Magh Mela adhikari Arvind Kumar Chauhan
Over 41.50 lakh pilgrims took the holy dip at Sangam on Basant Panchami—the fourth bathing festival of Magh Mela-2023 on Thursday. Mela administration had made elaborate arrangements for the smooth completion of bathing festival. They included tight security, cleanliness at ghats and other amenities for the devotees.
The Railways and the Uttar Pradesh State Roadways Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) operated special trains and buses for the devotees who reached the mela area from different parts of the country. As the mela administration was expecting a huge turnout, the authorities had set up 16 temporary ghats in mela area.
Earlier on Wednesday, divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, mela adhikari Arvind Kumar Chauhan and other officials carried out inspections at different sectors in mela area and gave instructions for maintaining cleanliness and laying dried grass at ghats. The officials had deployed sanitation workers in three shifts who ensured that ghats and mela area remained clean.
For Thursday’s ‘snan’, heavy security arrangements were made at different ghats, entry and exit points by the mela police. A detailed traffic diversion for smooth movement of pilgrims was also in place. The diversions came into effect from Wednesday night and continued till Friday noon. Early morning drizzle did give anxious moments to pilgrims and officials alike but as soon as it stopped, faith drove people to ghats.
As per the mela administration, 15 lakh devotees had taken the dip in the holy waters by 12 noon and in the next two hours, another 10 lakh devotees took the dip. The numbers continued to swell all day through and by 4pm, 36 lakh devotees had taken holy bath and by 6pm, the numbers rose to 41.50 lakh.
“We focused on better crowd management and traffic movement for which different parking sites were made,” said Magh Mela adhikari Arvind Kumar Chauhan. Arrangements were made in such a way that as soon as the parking near Sangam got filled, the vehicles were made to park at Parade Ground and the pilgrims needed to trek from there to the ghats of their choice for taking the dip, he added.
Besides, deep water barricading was placed for security of devotees and Jal Police and divers kept an eye at ghats. “Help of drones and CCTV cameras was taken to keep an eye on crowd of devotees and managing their movement,” said divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant.
Mela adhikari Arvind Kumar Chauhan said, “We took special care for the cleanliness of the ghats and in view of the pandemic, several Covid help desks were operated at various places in the mela area and devotees were checked with thermal scanning before entering the mela area and asked to wear facemasks”. The snan concluded smoothly with the support of all the departments, he added.
