PRAYAGRAJ: All preparations have been put in place by the administration to ensure smooth conduct of Maghi Purnima snan– fifth major bathing day of the ongoing Magh Mela-scheduled on Sunday.
This will also mark the end of month-long Kalpwas by thousands of devotees Kalpwasis who have been camping on the mela campus. On Saturday, these Kalpwasis performed ‘havan pujan’ at their tents and resolved to return next year.
The mela administration is expecting around 7 lakh devotees to arrive at Magh Mela on Sunday. Senior officials, including divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant and Magh Mela adhikari Arvind Kumar Chauhan reviewed the preparations and briefed officials on Friday.
“All preparations are complete for Maghi Purnima snan. Entry and exit of pilgrims will be from different routes so that there is no overcrowding at any one given spot or route,” said Chauhan. Meanwhile, as pilgrims started pouring in from across the country, traffic diversions and restrictions also came into force from Friday night and would remain in place till Monday afternoon. Entry of vehicles in the mela area was also stopped from 8am on Saturday, officials said. SSP Magh Mela Rajeen Narain Mishra said security has been reviewed ahead of the bathing festival.
Bomb disposal squad and other teams carried out checking drives at Sangam Nose, Pontoon Bridges, parking places and different ghats. Dog squads were also pressed into service to search for suspicious persons and objects, he added.
The officials have also come out with a fresh blueprint to ease traffic congestion on roads leading to the mela area ahead of the snan. The district traffic police were forced to redraw their strategy following major traffic snarls witnessed during and after Mauni Amavasya and Basant Panchami snans.
Acknowledging that the majority of Kalpwasis would be returning home on Sunday, police have set up 10 parking slots and fixed separate entry and exit routes of Kalpwasi vehicles.
As per the plan, Kalpwasi vehicles coming from Kanpur, Lucknow, Pratapgarh, Mirzapur and Reewa routes would be entering mela campus via GT Jawahar, Alopi temple trisection, Ganga Bhawan trisection and pontoon bridge number 5.
Similarly, they would be using pontoon bridge number 4 towards Ganga Bhawan trisection, Alopi temple trisection, GT Jawahar and Harvardhan crossing for exit.
Similarly, vehicles coming from Varanasi and Mirzapur would be entering the mela campus through Tikarmafi- Triveni Marg and opt for old GT road, Kachhar parking, Homeguard training centre and Andawa crossing during return.
This will also mark the end of month-long Kalpwas by thousands of devotees Kalpwasis who have been camping on the mela campus. On Saturday, these Kalpwasis performed ‘havan pujan’ at their tents and resolved to return next year.
The mela administration is expecting around 7 lakh devotees to arrive at Magh Mela on Sunday. Senior officials, including divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant and Magh Mela adhikari Arvind Kumar Chauhan reviewed the preparations and briefed officials on Friday.
“All preparations are complete for Maghi Purnima snan. Entry and exit of pilgrims will be from different routes so that there is no overcrowding at any one given spot or route,” said Chauhan. Meanwhile, as pilgrims started pouring in from across the country, traffic diversions and restrictions also came into force from Friday night and would remain in place till Monday afternoon. Entry of vehicles in the mela area was also stopped from 8am on Saturday, officials said. SSP Magh Mela Rajeen Narain Mishra said security has been reviewed ahead of the bathing festival.
Bomb disposal squad and other teams carried out checking drives at Sangam Nose, Pontoon Bridges, parking places and different ghats. Dog squads were also pressed into service to search for suspicious persons and objects, he added.
The officials have also come out with a fresh blueprint to ease traffic congestion on roads leading to the mela area ahead of the snan. The district traffic police were forced to redraw their strategy following major traffic snarls witnessed during and after Mauni Amavasya and Basant Panchami snans.
Acknowledging that the majority of Kalpwasis would be returning home on Sunday, police have set up 10 parking slots and fixed separate entry and exit routes of Kalpwasi vehicles.
As per the plan, Kalpwasi vehicles coming from Kanpur, Lucknow, Pratapgarh, Mirzapur and Reewa routes would be entering mela campus via GT Jawahar, Alopi temple trisection, Ganga Bhawan trisection and pontoon bridge number 5.
Similarly, they would be using pontoon bridge number 4 towards Ganga Bhawan trisection, Alopi temple trisection, GT Jawahar and Harvardhan crossing for exit.
Similarly, vehicles coming from Varanasi and Mirzapur would be entering the mela campus through Tikarmafi- Triveni Marg and opt for old GT road, Kachhar parking, Homeguard training centre and Andawa crossing during return.