Thousands receive holy water to take part in virtual Gangasagar Mela rituals

At least 54,000 peopleacross the country have so far received holy water from theconfluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal, as the WestBengal government arranged for 'e-snan' facility to avoidcrowding at the Gangasagar Mela in the wake of the COVID-19pandemic.

The government has been promoting the 'e-snan' (e-bathing) facility to send the holy water and 'prasad' toanyone who orders for it from any part of the country for adelivery fee of Rs 150, state panchayat minister SubrataMukherjee said.

''So far, 54,000 people have received the holy waterfrom the confluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal attheir homes in different parts of the country,'' he said.

Every year, lakhs of pilgrims from across the countryand abroad flock to the Sagar Island -- about 130 km fromKolkata -- to take the holy dip on the occasion of ''MakarSankranti''.

They also offer prayers at the Kapil Muni templeduring the Gangasagar fair, considered to be the second-largest congregation after the Kumbh Mela.

Makar Sankranti marks the end of the winter solsticemonth and beginning of longer days.

According to the calendar, the timings of the holy dipthis year will be for 24 hours from 6.02 am on January 14.

Two lakh pilgrims have already arrived at theGangasagar Mela till January 12, of whom five persons havebeen found COVID-19 positive, the minister said.

Mukherjee also said the state government has madeelaborate arrangements to ensure that pilgrims follow theCOVID protocols and go back safely after taking the holy dipand paying obeisance at the Kapil Muni temple.

In a report placed before the Calcutta High Court inconnection with a PIL, seeking strict measures to preventtransmission of COVID-19 due to huge gatherings of pilgrimsat the fair, the state government has said that arrangementsfor 'e-snan' and 'e-darshan' have been made.

Medical screening camps with thermal checkingfacilities have been set up at all major entry points to thefair, it said.

The state has also set up 13 rapid antigen testingcentres, five RT-PCR testing facilities, eight safe homes with615 beds.

Eleven quarantine facilities, seven COVID hospitalswith 600 beds and six wellness centres have been built.

More than 2,500 health personnel have been deployedfor handling the situation, the report said, adding that greencorridor arrangements for emergency evacuation of people havealso been made.

The state government said it will ensure that allpilgrims wear face masks, maintain physical distancing and usesanitiser.

All people at the fair will be provided with aninsurance cover of Rs 5 lakh from January 8 to 16.

The state government has opened a control room forregistering any complaint and grievance in connection with theGangasagar Mela.

Around 9,000 police personnel have been deployed inand around the island for the fair.