Early birds have started thronging the Sagar Island to avoid the last-minute rush of pilgrims to the annual Gangasagar Mela in the second week of January.
Every year on Makar Sankranti (January 14), thousands of pilgrims gather at the island to take a dip at the confluence of the Ganga and Bay of Bengal and offer prayers in the Kapil Muni Temple.
A senior official of the local administration said, pilgrims visit the island almost throughout the year but those coming for the Gangasagar Mela usually do not arrive this early. "This is a new trend," he said.
Vehicles carrying pilgrims from different parts of the country were seen crowding Lot 8 at Diamond Harbour to avail of the ferry service to Kachuberia. From Kachuberia they would be proceeding to the Sagar Island.
Manish Jha from Maharashtra, who has come here with his aged parents, said he wanted to avoid the mad rush. "Since they (parents) are quite old, I have to be extra cautious to make sure that they do not face any inconvenience," Jha said.
There was also a possibility of not getting a proper place to during the mela, he said.
A regular visitor to the Gangasagar Mela, Alok Prasad from Hyderabad, said he did not want to take chances.
Praising the Mamata Banerjee government for the infrastructure development at Sagar Island, Prasad said, "I have been visiting the mela for around 15 years now. Things have changed for better in the last few years. And with the improvement of facilities, the number of people coming to this place has also gone up, leading to non-availability of accommodations,"
A senior official of the local administration said more tents will be put up this time to accommodate the pilgrims.
Provision for potable and adequate supply of drinking water has been made and the area has been electrified, he said.
"We have made all arrangements to make their stay a memorable one," the official told PTI.
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