Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (file photo) Citing surging Covid-19 cases in West Bengal, several organisations, ranging from religious bodies to the doctor’s associations on Tuesday urged the TMC government to not go ahead with the Gangasagar Mela in Sagar Island, set to begin from mid-January.
A joint platform of doctors of the state, in a memorandum to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said, “The number of Covid-infected people in the state has increased ten-fold in the last five days, according to official figures. No doubt several times bigger is the number of untested infected people. The situation is likely to get worse in the next few days… If even a small percentage of them are hospitalised and need treatment, it will go beyond the overall medical capacity of our hospitals…”
Mahanta Sanjay Das, the head of Kapilmuni temple in Sagar Island, said they were not opposed to closing of the fair. “We have no objection if the administration and the court ask to close the fair due to Covid-19. The priority is to save human life,” he said.
The in-charge of the fair from Bharat Sevasram Sangha, Nirmal Maharaj, also said that he doesn’t want the Mela to happen this year. “My opinion is that the Mela will come again next year. This is not the end. If the danger of Covid is removed, the fair could be held next year,” he said.
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