State and district administrations prepare for Shravani Mela

Thousands of devotees from different states of India visit the historic Shiva temple in Tarakeswar, West Bengal and Baba Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar in Jharkhand during the month-long Shravani Mela.

The state and district administration in West Bengal have taken steps to organise Shravani Mela in the most systematic manner. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has given specific directions to the district administration to conduct Shravani Mela in the most orderly manner.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has also taken appropriate measures to ensure law and order during the Shravani Mela.

Nishikant Dubey, MP from Godda in Jharkhand, has taken measures to take care of the devotees during their visit and stay at Baba Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar.

A high-level meeting was first held at the office of the District Magistrate and later at Biswanath Seva Samity, Haripal. Two Ministers, Beccharam Manna and Snehasis Chakraborty, MLAs Dr Karabi Manna and Ramendhu Singha Roy, Rural District Police Commissioner Kamanasish Sen and senior officials of other concerned departments, 40 representatives of social welfare organisations and some local people from Seoraphuli, Baidyabati and Tarakeswar were also present in the meeting.

Mr. Manna said that to control the movement of the sea of ​​devotees from Seoraphuli river ghats to Tarakeswar Shiva temple, surveillance will be maintained using CCTV cameras. Relief camps will be set up along the entire stretch of road from Baidyabati to Tarakeswar. Police personnel and a medical team will provide round-the-clock assistance to devotees. The civic bodies and panchayats will take care of the lighting system, drinking water, bio-toilets and cleanliness, under the Mission Nirmal Bangla.

For the safety of devotees on the river ghats in Baidyabati, the irrigation department is setting up safety nets to prevent devotees from being swept away by fast water currents. The PWD department is repairing the damaged parts of the river ghats and the entire stretch of road from Baidyabati to Tarakeswar. The electricity department is ensuring that the electricity poles are free of faults to prevent short circuits and electrocution incidents.

Mr. Manna added that the railways has been asked to remove all construction material from the vicinity of Tarakeswar railway station. The Eastern Railway GM has been asked to increase the frequency of local trains at 20-minute intervals as 15,000 devotees use Tarakeswar railway station every hour.

Minister Snehasis Chakraborty has ensured that 50 state buses will ply from Satragachi, Bally Halt station, Burdwan and Kolkata (Dharmatala) to and from Tarakeswar.