Sangam area dwellers, pilgrims face hardship as water level rises
The water in Sangam reached the road in front of Bade Hanuman temple. In the past three days, the level of water in river Yamuna has increased by over 2 metres in Naini while that of river Ganga in Chhatnag has increased by around 1.75 metres.
There has been no respite for pilgrims, pandas (priests) and boatmen of the Sangam area from the intermittent increase in the water level of the Ganga and Yamuna. The rising waters in the Sangam area continue to pose problems to people.
The sudden rise in level of water in both the rivers is because of the rains in several parts of northern India for the past one week.
Water level in both the rivers continues to rise for the third successive day since October 11 onwards because of which boatmen and pandas have been forced to shift their belongings to the higher grounds.
The water in Sangam reached the road in front of Bade Hanuman temple. In the past three days, the level of water in river Yamuna has increased by over 2 metres in Naini while that of river Ganga in Chhatnag has increased by around 1.75 metres.
Because of the sudden rise in water level, the entire sandy banks in front of the Bade Hanuman temple to Nagvasuki temple of Daraganj, has been inundated.
On Friday, devotees were seen walking towards Sangam on roads submerged in water. The pandas too were sitting at their specified place but the entire area was submerged in water. The water has reached the boundary wall of the park located in front of the Bade Hanuman temple.
“We have shifted our boxes of Bahi (records of their disciples), and other furniture to safer places but we are forced to stay here at our camps because this is one place where our ‘jajman’ (disciples) would come searching for us,” said Abhishek, a panda. This second wave of flood is unprecedented and is causing lot of problem to us and the devotees alike, he added.
The water level in Yamuna as recorded by the flood control department at 4pm of October 11 was 78.06 mts which increased to 80.15mts at 4pm on October 14. Likewise, the level of water in river Ganga at Phaphamau was 79.20mts on October 11 and the same has increased to 80.50mts on Friday (4pm). Water level at Chhatnag was 77.67mts on October 11 and on Friday it was reported at 79.60mts.
The rise in water level has not only caused problems to the boatmen and devotees, it could pose a serious challenge for the Prayagraj Mela Authority, which normally starts preparations for Magh Mela by October. They would be forced to wait for the banks of the two rivers to dry up so that work of installing poles or laying of water pipelines can be taken up for the tent city that would come up for the fair.
