CM to visit Sagar Island on Jan 7 to take stock of preparedness

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be visiting Sagar Island in South 24-Parganas in the second week of January to take a stock of the situation before the Ganga Sagar Mela where lakhs of people from all over the country visit to take a holy dip at the confluence of river Ganga and Bay of Bengal on the day of Makarsankranti.

This is the first time the Mela is getting organised amidst Covid situation.

She will be on a three day tour to South 24-Parganas from January 7 to 9. Her visit comes crucial as it was one of the most affected districts due to super cyclone Amphan that hit the state on May 20 at an average speed of 145 to 155 km per hour.

Besides taking stock on the progress of reconstruction work after damage caused by the super cyclone, Banerjee will also be interacting with all concerned officers about implementation of different state run schemes in the administrative review meeting that she will attend on January 7 at Namkhana.

Namkhana was one of the worst affected areas due to Amphan. It may be recalled that the state government had released Rs 6,250 crore to carry out reconstruction work after massive damages caused by the super cyclone.

According to the sources, Banerjee would be directly going to Gangasagar after attending the administrative review meeting at Namkhana. She would be offering Puja at Kapil Muni Ashram and would reach to the grassroot level to inspect all preparation to ensure that pilgrims do not face any problem when they will visit the place amidst Covid pandemic.

The heavy turnout of pilgrims takes place mainly on the day of Makar Sankranti that is in mid-January.

Keeping the Covid situation in mind the state government has taken a slew of measures giving emphasis on e-darshan and e-snan facilities that was introduced last year. Under the facilities, a devotee will get water from the confluence of river Ganga and Bay of Bengal supplied at their houses if applied online for the same.

A high level meeting will be held at Nabanna regarding Gangasagar Mela preparation on Monday.