Over 5.2L pilgrims from across the nation take holy dip in Gangasagar on Makar Sankranti
Sagar Island: Over 5.2 lakh pilgrims from across the country took a holy dip at the Gangasagar on the occasion of Makar Sankranti on Friday.
The entire mela is being organised under the supervision of a two-member committee constituted by the Calcutta High Court.
Abiding by the High Court order, only fully vaccinated and pilgrims with a negative RT-PC report were allowed to enter Sagar Island.
Pilgrims were allowed for snan in staggered manner (50 persons at a time).
"Compared to last year, there were only 20-25 percent pilgrims this year," said state Power minister Aroop Biswas, during a press conference on Friday. State Public Health Engineering minister Pulak Roy, Sunderban Affairs minister Bankim Chandra Hazra, state Women and Child Development and Social Welfare minister Shashi Panja and District Magistrate of South 24-Parganas Dr P Ulaganathan were also present.
This year the Gangasagar Mela became a big hit on digital platform.
About 2.78 crore devotees across the world and India opted for the e-Darshan through YouTube,, Facebook, Twittera and Gangasagar website. 2, 78, 780 devotees from across India and also from Dubai, Britain and USA have received e-Snan packets [through online and off line]. About 1,06,362 devotees performed puja and offered prayer to Kapil Muni temple via e-puja platform. At least 65, 780 devotees offered Punya Snan through drones [Outramghat and mela areas].
This apart, special puja offerings were broadcast on 255 LED TVs en-route to Gangasagar from Outramghat.
According to a senior police officer of Kolkata Police the crowd was far less in 2022 comparing to other years, probably because of the curbs imposed by the state government due to the ongoing surge in the COVID-19 pandemic. pilgrims from Babughat board vehicles arranged by the state government to take them to the Kakdwip from where they take boats and vessels to the
Sagar Island.
A Calcutta High Court division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Kesong Doma Bhutia allowed the annual fair to take place from January 8 and 16, and ordered that the entire Sagar Island be declared a notified area.
Like Thursday, another devotee was airlifted on grounds of medical emergency on Friday. The 75-year-old patient, Savitry Shalikram Bawane, from Madhya Pradesh, was admitted in Howrah following a fracture in her leg.
On Thursday, Swarnala Mondal, a resident of Sagar Island who sustained 54 percent burn injuries on her body due to small fire incident, was admitted to Mela Ground Temporary Hospital was shifted to burn unit of Howrah State General Hospital via air ambulance. Reena Krishna, a resident of Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh, got injured in the fire incident. Another pilgrim Gita Devi, who had come from Patna to the Mela and got her legs fractured were airlifted to Kolkata and admitted to Howrah State General Hospital.
