Magh Mela preparations begin; govt yet to sanction budget

Preparations for the 2020 Magh Mela has started at the banks of Sangam even though the state government is yet to sanction the revised budget for the annual religious

Preparations for the 2020 Magh Mela has started at the banks of Sangam even though the state government is yet to sanction the revised budget for the annual religious fair.

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ADM (City) AK Kanaujia, who is also in-charge of Magh Mela, said the preparations had started with some funds that had been released earlier as barely seven weeks were left for the mela to begin in January next year.

It may be mentioned that in view of the desire expressed by deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya during the concluding ceremony of Kumbh Mela 2019 in March this year at Parade Ground where chief minister Yogi Adityanath was also present, for organizing Magh Mela on the pattern of Kumbh, the district administration had forwarded a budget proposal of ₹158 crore a few months back which was returned by the state government for reducing the amount.

Later a revised budget of ₹126.64 was forwarded to the government, which as per sources in the district administration not wishing to be named, had also not been approved yet due to the excessive amount.

However, the district administration in view of approaching mela has started preparations.

Presently, the Public Works Department has started levelling of sand from Sangam nose till sector 1 and 2 while the power department and other departments were also expected to begin work soon. The Magh Mela would be organized in six sectors and some government departments have already conducted ‘Bhumi Pujan’ ceremony for beginning their work.

INFO BOX (in crore)

Department 2018 2020 Revised budget

Mela Admin 18.97 66.06 46.86

Power Corp 10.58 14.22 11.68

Health 10.25 29.41 29.21

Jal Nigam 4.93 16.57 12.04

PWD 5.27 11.26 9.62

Flood div 2.42 6.13 4.27

Police Dept 5.48 8.70 8.70