Mela: Transportation woes continue

The district administration has clearly indicated that it is unable to handle the pilgrim traffic unless a permanent solution to the transportation problem is found.

Ferry services remained suspended for 3-4 hours everyday during this year’s Gangasagar Mela as steamers were unable to navigate in the river unless there was a high tide. It was followed by suspension of bus services resulting in traffic congestion.

“There has to be a bridge over the river. Otherwise we will not be able to control the flow of pilgrim traffic next year as the congregation is likely to be larger in the coming year,” said Ajey Ranade,Superintendent of Police,South 24 Parganas. “Owing to this,pilgrims will start infiltrating in illegal fishing trawlers and which will maximize the risk of unchecked pilgrim entry,” he added.

Adding to the woes is the dying river. The river seems to have been hit due to excessive silting on the riverbed resulting in slow river traffic. A senior official of South 24-Parganas district administration said no dredging was done in the river. Dredging needs to be done either by the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) or the state Irrigation Department,he said.

Transporting pilgrims from one point of the island to Kakdwip or vice-versa becomes a problem with low tides affecting ferry services along the river,he added.

On the other hand,the KoPT officials passed the buck on the Irrigation Department.

“We are not supposed to conduct dredging in the area as our ships do not travel in that stretch. The Irrigation Department is supposed to do the work,” said a KoPT official.

The state Irrigation Department seems to be nonchalant about the issue.

“The Gangasagar Mela is a national festival. Chief minister Buuddhadeb Bhattacharjee has proposed to construct a bridge over the river as dredging is not at all feasible. But the proposal is in a preliminary stage,” said Irrigation Minister Subhas Naskar.

“The bridge has to be of more than 2 km stretch. We will call a global tender for the construction. But we cannot opt for dredging as we do not have any land to dump the sand that will come out after dredging,” added Naskar.