Pilgrims en-route to Gangasagar throng Kalighat shrine, creating Covid scare

With tens of thousands of pilgrims from neighbouring states, on way to the Gangasagar Mela, thronging the ancient Kalighat Temple premises, temple committee members fear that there could be a Covid outbreak in the area and want authorities to temporarily shut the `Shakti-peetha' (Shakti school pilgrimage) shrine.

The pilgrims who mostly hail from rural Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh pass through the city parking the chartered busses in which they have travelled hundreds of kilometers, to visit the revered shrine before travelling towards the river ferry `ghats' (jetties) from where they can travel to Gangasagar.

''It's a terrible situation in and around the Kalighat Temple. We are witnessing tens of thousands of pilgrims thronging here daily, on way to the Gangasagar Mela. They are unused to Covid protocols, mostly they do not wear masks and push each other in while trying to catch a glimpse of the mother goddess's statue," Dipankar Chatterjee, secretary of executive committee of the Kalighat Temple Sebayit (hereditary servitors) Council, told PTI.

The official said large numbers of residents of the area as well as several members involved with the Temple have tested positive for the contagion in recent days. "This is quite a challenging situation for both the temple and the residents of Kalighat area through which they (pilgrims) walk, shop and eat. I feel it would be better to close the temple for the time being as a precautionary measure against a possible Covid-19 super-surge,'' said Chatterjee.

''Even the policemen posted at the temple have failed to make these devotees follow Covid-19 protocols," he pointed out. The `Garbha griha' (sanctum sanctorum) of the Kalighat temple has been closed to devotees from January 11 to 26, but people are allowed to enter the temple and see the goddess from the courtyard where "milling crowds who pay scant regard to social distancing norms or the rule to wear masks" create a mini-Mela like situation. "We have requested the local councillor and MLA to take a decision and close the Temple temporarily, but nothing has happened as yet,'' said Chatterjee, who is also a resident of Kalighat area. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is also a resident of the crowded South-Central Kolkata area. ''Almost every household living in Iswar Ganguly street (in the Kalighat area) has at least two Covid-19 patients. Many of my own family members have fallen ill,'' he added.

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