Record 1.1 cr pilgrims take holy dip at Gangasagar on ‘Makar Sankranti’

Kolkata: A record 1.1 crore pilgrims across the state took holy dip at Gangasagar this year, matching the footfall of pilgrims during the previous edition of the Gangasagar Mela.

The huge flow of pilgrims this year at Sagar deserves special mention as the Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj is being hosted this year.

The sacred ‘Makar Sankranti’ ritual that commenced on Tuesday at 6:58 a.m ended at the same time on Wednesday. State Power minister Aroop Biswas said that pilgrims started coming to Sagar Island from January 1 and devotees are still coming. However, the flow has picked up since Sunday.

The district administration of South 24-Parganas will be taking up a large-scale clean up drive on Thursday morning in the beach area.

Six deaths have occurred since Sunday with a fresh one reported on Wednesday in 85 year old Natha who had come from Uttar Pradesh. About 6632 pilgrims were estranged from their family members in the Gangasagar Mela. However, the police, district administration and NGOs were able to unite 6627 of them with their respective families.

Two persons were airlifted from Sagar island helipad and were brought to city hospitals for better treatment, taking the total count of such airlifting to nine. A 65-year-old Biswanath Paura of Bengal was one of them. He was diagnosed with Malena with severe anaemia. Prem Kumar Singh (65) of Madhya Pradesh was diagnosed with Haematuria. Both of them were admitted at MR Bangur Hospital.

The total incidents of pick pocketing is 455. In 432 cases the lost belongings were returned to the owners. About 895 persons were arrested for criminal activities by the police.