Prayagraj: In the Magh Mela being organized in Prayagraj, about 90 lakh devotees took a dip in Sangam and Ganga till 8 am on the occasion of Maghi Purnima bathing festival on Sunday. The official of the fair authority said that despite the severe cold, the arrival of devotees in the fair area and bathing in the Ganga is going on since 12 midnight on Saturday.
He told that till 8 am on Sunday, about 90 lakh devotees took bath in Ganga and Sangam. District Magistrate Manish Kumar Verma said that the Kalpvasis, who have been staying in the fair for the last one month, have their last bath in the Ganga on Sunday, so their relatives have come to take them back home.
He told that a large number of devotees are arriving in the morning amid dense fog and bathing is going on smoothly at all the ghats. He said, “Adequate security arrangements have been made at all the ghats. Teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are deployed. Apart from this, sailors and divers have also been deployed at all the ghats.
Verma said that the fair area is being monitored through CCTV cameras and drones and all the officers are roaming in the fair area. Acharya Rajendra Mishra, President of Triveni Sangam Aarti Seva Samiti, said that the one-month long Kalpvas of about five lakh Kalpavasis will end with the Maghi Purnima bath in the Magh Mela and the Magh Mela will end with the Mahashivratri bath festival on 15th February.
Divisional Commissioner Soumya Aggarwal said that the fair area spread over 800 hectares has been divided into seven sectors and more than 25 thousand toilets have been built and more than 3,500 sanitation workers are deployed. Superintendent of Police (Magh Mela) Neeraj Pandey said that more than 10 thousand policemen have been deployed in the entire fair area for the safety and smooth movement of the devotees. To maintain smooth traffic, 42 temporary parking lots with a capacity of more than one lakh vehicles have been created. He said that a total of 12,100 feet long ghats have been constructed for Magh Mela 2025-26, which have all the necessary basic facilities.
