The Hindu : National : Security tightened at Sagar Mela

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Wednesday, Jan 14, 2009
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Security tightened at Sagar Mela

Raktima Bose

KOLKATA: Elaborate security measures have been taken at Sagar Island in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district where lakhs of pilgrims await the auspicious moment of Makar Sankranti on Wednesday to take the holy dip at the spot where the Ganga merges with the Bay of Bengal.

Special steps have been taken considering that those responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks on November 26, 2008 had taken the water-route to enter the city.

“A coastal surveillance team will be patrolling the area 24x7 with a hovercraft and a Dornier helicopter from the Coast Guard. The guards have been provided with night-vision equipments for better efficiency,” Sanghamitra Ghosh, magistrate, told The Hindu over the telephone from the Sagar Island on Tuesday.

Ms. Ghosh said watchtowers had been built at all the entry points to the Island. “The arrangement is also to ensure that no accidents happen during the mela.”

Other than this, around 4,000 State police personnel have been deployed. They are conducting checks on the temple premises with sniffer dogs, she said.

“The anti-sabotage and anti-crime teams of the State police are conducting random checks in trains and buses. Individual frisking of the pilgrims is also being done in addition to monitoring different parts of the Island by CCTV cameras.”

The footfall at the Sagar is expected to rise in contrast to previous years since there are no Kumbh or Ardh Kumbh Mela this year. “About 1.5 lakh pilgrims have arrived from different parts of the country till now, but we are expecting more people on the Sankranti day,” Ms. Ghosh pointed out.

She said: “The district administration, along with the State’s transport and public health departments, has bettered the infrastructure facilities. Mobile toilets have been built to avoid pilgrims littering in the open.”

The administration has also taken care to provide clean drinking water to the pilgrims and have repaired roads and existing jetties for safe transport movement.

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