Admin gears up for Sankranti snan, 16 ghats being readied for 20 lakh devotees in Prayagraj

PRAYAGRAJ: The Prayagraj district administration is busy giving last-minute touches to the preparations for Makar Sankranti snan that will take place on January 14 and 15. Officials said that no stone is being left unturned for this major bathing festival and best of the facilities will be provided to the devotees and kalpwasis coming and staying at the Magh Mela area.
The mela authorities have estimated that 15 to 20 lakh devotees would take bath on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. For this major snan, a total of 16 ghats are being prepared. Laying of straw along with levelling of uneven ground is being carried out at a war footing on all the ghats and the approach areas.
District magistrate Sanjay Kumar Khatri and Mela Adhikari Arvind Singh Chauhan are inspecting the preparation at leat two times a day.
“After the first bath of Paush Purnima, now the full emphasis of the administration is on the second major bathing festival. On the occasion of Makar Sankranti, three to four times more crowd is expected than Paush Purnima. With this in mind, the number of administrative staff has been increased along with the number of ghats,” said Chauhan.
The circulating area of all the ghats is being increased so that there is no crowd at the bathing ghats. There will be a circulating area of about 300 meters at the Sangam, while the circulating area at other bathing ghats will be of 200 metres. During the inspection by the DM and the Mela Adhikari, the officers inspected the relief camp, saw the cleanliness of the camps, amenities provided to the pilgrims including blankets, bed seats, etc.
After this, the availability of medicines was also checked in the health camp. The DM instructed officials to take all necessary steps in view of the pandemic and the nail-biting cold.
Likewise, in view of the first major snan of Makar Sankranti (on January 14-15), the district traffic police have announced a road diversion plan for heavy and commercial vehicles. Police said a plan has been introduced to streamline the traffic. As per plans, 10 static spots have been set up from where there would be no entry for heavy and commercial vehicles. The diversion would remain effective from January 13 midnight till January 15 midnight. Besides, traffic police have also come up with a road diversion plan for heavy vehicles on six routes connecting Prayagraj with Lucknow, Pratapgarh, Jaunpur, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Reewa.
Besides, 10 parking slots have also been set up for vehicles in and around the mela campus.