Declare Gangasagar Mela a national festival: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged the Central government to declare Gangasagar Mela a ‘national mela’ (national festival).

“If not today, the Centre will have to declare it as a national festival in the future,” the Chief Minister said.

Ms. Banerjee, who was on a preparatory visit to Gangasagar during the day, inaugurated three helipads at the island and said that the State government is in the process of preparing DPR (Detailed Project Report) for a bridge in Mourigram.

“Although journey to Gangasagar is difficult, we are making DPR for the bridge in Mourigram as we are not getting any support from the Centre. The Centre supports Kumbh Mela, but the Gangasagar does not get anything,” the Chief Minister said.

The annual Gangasagar pilgrimage will take place from January 8 to 17 this year. Every year millions of people descend on Sagar island in the Sundarbans archipelago on the occasion of Makar Sankrati. This year the number of visitors to the Gangasagar Mela is likely to increase.

In December, the CM held a meeting of officials of the State government, Navy and Coast Guard and urged them to step up efforts for the annual pilgrimage. She had said that about 30 lakh visitors are likely to visit this year.

District Magistrate of South 24 Parganas, Sumit Gupta, said several teams of NDRF and other personnel will be deployed for the fair. “There will be one air ambulance and four water ambulances, besides 100 ambulances at the fair ground. As many as five NDRF teams along with teams from the Navy and the Coast Guard will also be on standby,” the DM said.