Calcutta HC Nod to Gangasagar Mela After Bengal Govt Refuses to Ban Religious Event – The Wire

Kolkata News

New Delhi: After the state government said that it cannot ban the nine-day-long Gangasagar Mela scheduled from January 8 to January 16, which is expected to draw pilgrims in lakhs, the Calcutta high court has given its go-ahead for the event, however, calling for “strict adherence” to COVID-19 norms.

Towards the enforcement of norms, the court ordered the government to set up a committee, which will oversee arrangements and take measures depending upon the emerging situation.

It also asked the government to take a decision within 24 hours to declare Sagar Island, where the annual fair is held, as a “notified area”. The declaration as “notified area” will empower the authorities to take measures for safeguarding the health, safety and welfare of the pilgrims as required.

The proposed committee will comprise the leader of the opposition in the state legislative assembly or his representative, the chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission or his representative and a representative of the state government. The panel may recommend to the state government a ban on entry to Sagar Island if there is any violation of health safety norms, the court said.

The constitution of the committee comes after the West Bengal Doctors’ Forum expressed its apprehension that measures suggested by it in an affidavit would remain merely as “paper suggestions” and would not be implemented in practice.

The court also directed that the authorities concerned to implement the measures as per an earlier order of the high court on holding of the 2021 Gangasagar Mela.

It directed the home secretary to make wide publicity in print and electronic media to make the people aware of the risk of visiting the venue of the fair between January 8 and 16 in large numbers and ask them to “stay safe and desist from visiting the Gangasagar Island during this period”.

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The petitioner Abhinanda Mondal, a medical practitioner, had sought a direction to the state government not to hold the annual Gangasagar Mela scheduled, usually held on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at Sagar Island, situated about 130 kms from Kolkata.

The petitioner’s counsel had submitted that a large number of pilgrims gather at the island in the confluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal to take a holy dip and sometimes the footfall reaches up to 18 lakh.

“In view of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state, it is not in the larger public interest to hold such a mela,” he had said.

The Doctors’ Forum is an added party in the petition, which was allowed by the court on its prayer.

As for the state government, it had said that it was not in favour of banning the Gangasagar Mela “at this stage” in view of the arrangements being already in place. The affidavit had said that about 30,000 people had already visited the Mela ground and nearly 50,000 people, including sadhus, had arrived at different locations.

However, the government had said that due to the COVID situation the inflow of devotees had come down and only about four to five lakh pilgrims were expected, less than last year.

The affidavit had also suggested certain measures, including compulsory use of face masks, maintaining physical distancing and the use of sanitisers at the fair venue to contain the spread of coronavirus.

The situation facing Gangasagar Mela is similar to the one experienced during Kumbh Mela last year. At the height of the second wave of the pandemic, which cost several lives, lakhs of pilgrims gathered on the shores of the Ganges in the Himalayan town of Haridwar to celebrate Kumbh Mela 2021, which drew severe criticism and emerged as a super spreader event.

(With PTI inputs)

Source: https://thewire.in/law/calcutta-hc-nod-to-gangasagar-mela-after-bengal-govt-refuses-to-ban-religious-event