Pilgrims, seers face hardships as river waters enter camps
Water from the Kanpur barrage, which is expected to reach Sangam in the next 24 hours, has put the mela authorities on high alert.
PRAYAGRAJ: As seers, devotees and kalpwasis are already worried due to rising water in the Ganga and the Yamuna and facing hardships in the ongoing Magh Mela, the bad weather conditions have further added to their woes.
Though the Ganga started receding at a slow pace on Monday, the release of around 19,000 cusecs more water from the barrage at Kanpur, which is expected to reach Sangam in next 24 hours, has put the mela authorities on high alert. On Monday, the level of water in Ganga at Phaphamau was recorded at 77.52 meters.
With fresh rains in parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, water level in rivers like Ken and Betwa too has increased, adding to the volume of water in Yamuna. Meanwhile, camps from Gangdweep, sector 2 and 3 are being shifted to safer ground towards Phaphamau.
Monday too witnessed thick cloud cover because of which the mud and sludge near the ghats and some of the roads of the tent city continued to be problematic for commuters. The belongings of many kalpwasis in a camp in Sector 3 were damaged because of the rains which occurred on Saturday and Sunday. The devotees in the camps, which were not covered with polythene, had to stay awake the whole night.
The bad weather is also forcing many of the kalpwasis to return to their native places.
“Although because of Covid, many of our family members were not in favour of coming this time, but we braved all odds. However, the extreme weather and river water entering our camps have complicated our stay and we have decided to return,” said Manish Mishra of Rewa.
“The discharge of water in Ganga from Kanpur barrage has been reduced from 21,000 cusecs to 19,000 cusecs but at the same time, because of rains and weather, we are on high alert,” said executive engineer of the irrigation department, Brijesh Kumar Verma.
Divisional commissioner Sanjay Goyal, officiating Mela Adhikari, Arvind Kumar Chauhan and other officials inspected several sectors of the mela area and interacted with the seers and kalpwasis, providing all the necessary help required to them.
“We have shifted almost all the camps from the affected areas where river water entered. We are on high alert and hope that the weather will improve in coming days so that things become conducive for a comfortable stay of kalpwasis and seers,” said the Mela Adhikari.