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Magh Mela-2024: Land allotment for camps to start from Dec 21
Land allotment to organisations, institutions to be completed by Jan 3; Aadhaar card, photo mandatory for facility slips
Land allotment to seers, religious and cultural organisations and institutions to set up camps in the tent city for Magh Mela-2024 will start from December 21.
The land allotment process will begin with sites being allotted for Dandi Swami Nagar and Dandibada on December 21 and 22, said Prayagraj Mela Authority officials.
To set up camp, whatever an organisation needs – tents, beds, bedding, water tankers – can be requisitioned. However, the Mela authority hands over these items against a slip which lists the items given. Once the fair ends, these items and the slip has to be returned/deposited with the Mela authority.
There are 20 institutions which got land and facilities in the fair of 2023 but did not deposit the slips enumerating the facilities availed once the fair ended, as is required. This time, neither land nor any facilities will be given to them, the officials said.
According to the schedule proposed, land allotment for camps at Khakchak will take place on December 23 and 24, for Acharya Swami Nagar (Acharya Bada) on December 26 and 27, for Sangam Lower Marg, Sangam Upper Marg and Saraswati Marg on December 28, Mahavir Marg and Annapurna Marg on December 29, Tulsi Marg and GT Marg on December 30. Likewise, allotment of land for camps to institutions on Triveni Marg will take place on December 31, on Ramanuj Marg on January 1, on Kali Marg, Gangoli Shivala Marg, Sector 1 and 2, Parade ground, Shastri Gata and Kabir Nagar on January 3, Samudrakoop Marg and Interlocking Marg of Sector 3, Harishchandra Marg, Arail, Samayamai Marg and Surdas Marg along with Gata Marg on January 3.
Magh Mela Adhikari in-charge Dayanand Prasad has said that it is mandatory to provide photo and Aadhaar card to get the facility slips. He also said that in unavoidable circumstances, a change in the land allotment dates is possible. Facility slips will be given two days after land allotments, he added.
The annual religious fair held on the banks of the Sangam will be a 54-day affair this time. The Magh Mela-2024 will witness six main bathing days beginning with Makar Sankranti on January 15 and ending with Maha Shivaratri on March 8.
For the fair, a tent city is being set up across 750 hectares and will act as a pilot project for Mahkumbh-2025, allowing officials the opportunity to test new initiatives and streamline crowd management efforts for the once-in-12-years fair of Mahakumbh.
