‘Record 1 cr 10L pilgrims take holy dip in Gangasagar Mela this yr’
Kolkata: A record 1 crore 10 lakh people from across the country took a holy dip at Sagar Islands this year surpassing all previous records.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday congratulated the district administration, the ministers, the secretaries, the police, the NGOs and all other stakeholders for ensuring a safe and secured Gangasagar Mela.
“I will be handing over appreciation letters and mementoes to all Cabinet ministers who have worked tirelessly for the smooth conduct of the Gangasagar Mela,” Banerjee said.
The auspicious occasion for the holy dip on Makar Sankranti came to an end at 12.13 am on Tuesday. On Tuesday morning (Swachh Sagar Sundar Sagar) beach cleaning activity was organised by the South 24-Parganas district administration with ministers Aroop Biswas, Snehasis Chakraborty, Indranil Sen, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay and Sujit Bose leading the operation with brooms in their hands.
As per reports from the district administration, 3 pilgrims died on their way to the Sagar Islands. Mohan Lal Prajapat (59) of Rajasthan died on January 12, Chandrapal (51) of Delhi died on January 13 while 68-year-old Omprakash of Sirsa, Haryana died on January 14. So far, 8 persons who fell sick were airlifted from Sagar Islands. As many as 7 of them are admitted at MR Bangur Hospital while one is at SSKM Hospital. A sexagenarian named Ramsebak hailing from Uttar Pradesh was airlifted due to abdominal pain on Monday.
Presently, 297 pilgrims are undergoing treatment at different hospitals in Sagar and 3042 have been released after first aid. 51 have been sent to different hospitals in Kolkata for better treatment.
The strong surveillance mechanism adopted by the district administration has proved to be effective with 13651 out of 13672 pilgrims who had been estranged from their family members amidst huge gatherings at Gangasagar Mela have been united with their families.
The total number of incidents of pickpocketing has been 423 and in 402 cases the lost belongings have been returned to the owner. 876 persons have been arrested for criminal activities by the police.
