Gangasagar Mela begins on a tragic note,5 dead

Monoharlal Chaurasia (60),a resident of Madhya Pradesh,Sandhya Gharai (55),a resident of Bankura,and Haazarilal (85) from Uttar Pradesh died of cardiac arrest. According to a witness,Ramchandra Bhuniya (39),a resident of Burdwan,suddenly fell down and died while entering the Mela ground.

The never-ending stream of pilgrims continued through Wednesday,with people walking towards the confluence to the sound of bells,blowing conch shell and chanting of prayers. Strain of devotional songs and ceaseless din of loud speakers can be heard from far and near. As always,naga sadhus (naked monks) drew a lot of attention as and when they appeared in hordes.

Shops stocked with vermillion,rudraksh,colourful beads and conch shells lined the pathways and were clearly doing brisk business.

Among the notables on the Mela ground were TMC leader Partho Chatterjee,State’s Civil Defence Minister Srikumar Mukherjee and fire minister Pratim Chatterjee,visited the Mela ground. There were quite a number of visitors from abroad too.

A 10-member family from Punjab,all of them monks,comes to the Mela every year. “The pain of traveling does not deter even the weak and the vulnerable. So why should it keep us away from earning the grace of God,” said Ram Kumar,a member of the family.

The Mela also had its share of controversy,with many devotees protesting pilgrim tax collected by the district administration. “We spent around Rs 20 crore to set up the infrastructure every year. But from the pilgrim tax last year,we earned around Rs 11 lakh. This year,we are expecting to get around Rs 18 lakh. Rest of the amount is subsidised,” said Ghosh.