West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has urged all Gangasagar pilgrims to maintain Covid-19 protocols and asked them to avoid unnecessary crowds at Sagar Islands in South 24-Parganas district.
While inaugurating the mela from Babu Ghat in Kolkata on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said, “I am optimistic that we all together can overcome this crisis (Covid-19) with purity, perfection, determination and dedication. Therefore, it is my earnest request to all the pilgrims to follow Covid-19 protocols as per the instructions of the Calcutta High Court.”
She said, “In last two years, we managed to tackle Covid-19 and now Omicron is there everywhere and I am confident that we all together can face this challenge also. I would like to thank all health workers, doctors, police and administrative officials for working selflessly for the safety of people coming from other parts of the country for the mela. I would like to request everyone to be safe and please don’t crowd the area unnecessarily.”
“My earnest request to all sadhus to follow Covid-19 rules and visit Gangasagar Mela only if you are double vaccinated and with the latest RT-PCR report. There is no need to be extra jubilant because we are still passing through a tough time due to this pandemic. Please help us to contain the spread so that things become normal soon,” she added.
The state government has already announced to provide an insurance of cover upto Rs5 lakh to pilgrims visiting the place during Gangasagar Mela, in case of any untoward incident or disaster. The Chief Minister has also instructed some of her senior cabinet colleagues to remain stationed at various points in order to supervise various processes during the mela.
On January 6, West Bengal Advocate-General S N Mookherjee on behalf of the State government informed the Calcutta High Court that they want to go ahead with the event, amid strict Covid-19 preventive and safety measures.
This year, the ‘Ganga Sagar Mela’ will be held till January 16, where lakhs of devotees from across the country visit Sagar Islands to take a dip and pray at the famous Kapil Muni Ashram. The main festival is celebrated on January 14 every year.
On January 11, the Calcutta High Court dropped Suvendu Adhikari’s name from a three-member committee formed on January 7 to monitor compliance with Covid-19 restrictions at the mela.
A division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Kesang Doma Bhutia instead reconstituted it to a two-member committee comprising former Justice Samapti Chatterjee and the member secretary of the West Bengal Legal Services Authority.
While ending her speech, Mamata (hinting towards the media and the Opposition) said, “Please don’t highlight small incidents so that it will become difficult for us to handle the pandemic. I welcome all and please cooperate with my committee members.”
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