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Prayagraj admn gears up for Mauni Amavasya snan on Jan 21
With the district administration and the Prayagraj Mela Authority expecting around 2
With the district administration and the Prayagraj Mela Authority expecting around 2.25 crore pilgrim footfall on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya on January 21, several measures are being taken to smoothly conduct the biggest of the six bathing festivals of this annual religious fair.
In order to manage the huge turnout of pilgrims, two more ghats are being prepared after which the count of temporary ghats at the mela area would reach 18. One new ghat is being constructed at Phaphamau and the other on the right side of Mahavir Pontoon Bridge. These ghats would amount to a total of 8,000 running feet of space for the pilgrims to take the holy dip, officials said.
Along with this, the crowd management plan has also been activated by the mela administration along with the railways and UP State Roadways Transport Corporation (UPSRTC).
Large number of devotees were seen arriving at the Magh Mela area from Thursday itself. Chunk of these devotees were from rural background who were seen carrying their belongings on their head and arriving at the camp of their ‘guru’ (prominent seer) at various sectors of the vast Magh Mela area.
The traffic police personnel and those of the district police were seen helping these devotees in finding the way of the desired camps.
“I along with my family have arrived today itself as we knew that by each passing hour, the crowd would keep on increasing. With helpful behaviour of the mela authorities and signages, it was easy for us to reach the camp of our guru, Harichaitanya Bharamchari of Tikarmafi ashram,” said Rajesh Singh, a resident of Balia.
An additional 5,700 cusec of water is being released from the Narora dam to ensure uninterrupted and good quality of water for bathing since the start of Magh Mela. Strict instructions have been given to police and officers of other departments to avoid any kind of inconvenience to the devotees.
Apart from this, special emphasis is being laid on safety and cleanliness. On Wednesday, Mela Adhikari Arvind Kumar Chauhan held a meeting with officers of all the departments involved in the fair. “Our aim is to provide best of the facilities to the devotees coming to Magh Mela area and as Mauni Amavasya is the most important bathing day, we have put in additional efforts to see that no inconvenience is caused to any devotee,” said Chauhan.
The Mela Adhikari has instructed the zonal and sector magistrates that there should not be too much crowd at Sangam. Thus, the devotees will be diverted to other ghats depending on the rush for which the crowd management and traffic management will be implemented from Thursday night itself.
Electricity, water and health facilities have also been improved. Team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been deployed at Sangam for Mauni Amavasya Snan.
Under the direction of Commandant Manoj Kumar Sharma, two teams of NDRF from Varanasi have been deployed at different ghats of the Magh Mela area. NDRF personnel are stationed on the Sangam nose round the clock. From VIP Ghat to Sangam, jawans are also deployed in ghat at Yamuna, pontoon bridge number 2 and Arail Ghat area.
These jawans along with necessary equipment are patrolling the river banks on their motor boats.
