Gangasagar Mela: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday demanded that the Center accord national status to the annual Gangasagar fair to be held next week in the state’s South 24 Parganas district.
Stating that the Center has not paid any heed to her repeated requests to build a bridge over the Muri Ganga river to help pilgrims reach Sagar Island easily, Banerjee said her government is committed to its construction. Preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR).
“The central government is providing huge funds for the Kumbh Mela. But she is not providing anything to the state government for the Gangasagar fair. That’s why I would request them to declare it as a national fair, so that we can get some funds.
‘Centre making mistake by not giving national status to Gangasagar fair’
The Chief Minister said that this is not the first time she is making this request to the Centre. “I have been asking them to give Gangasagar the status of a national fair. I think they (Centre) are making a mistake by not giving it the status. Someday they will have to announce it,” she said.
Banerjee reached Sagar Island on Wednesday afternoon to review the preparations for the upcoming Gangasagar fair to be held from January 8 to 16. He also inaugurated three newly constructed helipads built at a cost of Rs 5 crore.
Asked whether it is a constitutional obligation to grant national status to the fair, Banerjee said it depends on the location and infrastructure as well as the public utility of the congregation.
About Gangasagar Mela
The Chief Minister said that Gangasagar is “a unique fair” as the only means of reaching Sagar Island, the venue of the fair, is by crossing the waterway. “The Kumbh Mela is well connected by air, rail and roads. But for Gangasagar, people have to take waterways, which is very difficult,” he said.
She said that she wants to put the Mela on the international map so that more and more international tourists can be attracted to visit the congregation. Lakhs of Hindu pilgrims gather at Sagar Island from different parts of the country and mainly from Bangladesh and Nepal on the occasion of ‘Makar Sankranti’ to take a holy dip at the confluence of the holy Ganges and the Bay of Bengal.
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The chief minister said, “We asked the central government several times to build the bridge, but they did not take it seriously. So, we decided to build it on our own. We are preparing a DPR for it.”
Banerjee said the project will take a few years to complete and may cost Rs 10,000 crore, but we will not beg (from the Centre). Banerjee said she had requested Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari to build the bridge and he had given his consent. He said that the administration has worked hard to rebuild the ghats near Kapil Muni Ashram which were badly damaged by Cyclone Yaas in May 2021.