Gangasagar Mela: At least 65 lakh pilgrims take holy dip at Sagar Island on Sunday

Kolkata: The South 24-Parganas district administration informed on Sunday that a record 65 lakh pilgrims took a dip in the sea at Sagar Islands on the occasion of Gangasagar Mela while seven sick pilgrims were airlifted.

The flow of tourists is increasing in leaps and bounds with Makar Sankranti scheduled from 12.13 am on Monday till 12.13 am on Tuesday. It is during this period when maximum pilgrims take the holy dip.

Seven pilgrims who fell ill during the fair have been airlifted and six of them are admitted at MR Bangur Hospital and one at SSKM hospital.

Due to the robust surveillance infrastructure comprising 1150 CCTV, 22 drones, 10 satellite phones and 140 manpacks, the district administration were able to unite 2810 out of 2846 pilgrims who separated from their family members amid the huge gathering. Out of 41 incidents of pick pocketing, the police were able to return belongings in 38 cases.

The arrangements of QR code scanning system introduced for the first time at the fair helped pilgrims to get information on drinking water facilities, toilets, ATM, healthcare, enquiry centre, buses and ferry timings. The push SMS alert from the administration was sent to 20 lakh pilgrims.

The Gangasagar Bakkhali Development Authority (GBDA) has been organising different activities for campaigning for ‘plastic-free Gangasagar’. Environment-friendly carry bags were distributed among the pilgrims. About 1000 cleaners were deployed to keep the beach area clean.

Several state Cabinet ministers, such as Aroop Biswas, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Snehasis Chakraborty, Pulak Roy, Sujit Bose, Partha Bhowmick, Bankim Hazra and Indranil Sen, camped at Sagar Island from

Sunday for monitoring the situation. The District Magistrate Sumit Gupta is also present there.