August 20, 2026 04:21 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Vijay govt calls for action to stop students, youth from joining CJP, Left protests | Kolkata hotel fire kills 9: Bengal Minister Agnimitra Paul targets ex-TMC govt, CESC over licences | Kolkata hotel fire: 9 Bangladeshi nationals, including women and a child, die in massive blaze | Tarun Tejpal faces life term? Goa govt moves Supreme Court after 2013 rape conviction | Supreme Court rejects ‘less painful’ death penalty plea, but leaves door open for future change | ‘Vulgarity and disgust’: DMK attacks Vijay over Trisha salute at I-Day event | ‘Take Gyanesh Kumar to the US’: Congress mocks Trump over praise for India’s voter ID system | Big relief for Imran Khan: Pakistan Supreme Court orders hospital transfer amid health fears | Trump praises India’s voter ID system, pushes SAVE America Act | Trump's shock threat to bomb Oman: US President warns ally over Iran deal and Hormuz crisis

WB: 7 ministers to oversee Gangasagar Mela 2016

| | Jan 06, 2016, at 05:06 am
Kolkata, Jan 5 (IBNS): After a preparatory meeting at state's main administrative building-Nabanna-on Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to depute seven cabinet ministers to Sagar Island in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas districts during the Gangasagar Mela, which will start from next Sunday (Jan 12).
Seven cabinet ministers including Subrata Mukherjee, Arup Biswas, Manish Gupta, Firhad Hakim, Rajib Banerjee, Giasuddin Mollah and Manturam Pakhira would oversee the whole management in Gangasagar Mela.
 
The Eastern Railway (ER) has decided to run special trains during the fair days. 
 
"We have planned to run 7 galloping EMU Mela special trains on Sealdah-Lakshmikantapur-Namkhana section for five days from Sunday," one senior ER official told IBNS.
 
Meanwhile, the Coast Guard, BSF and WB state police are ready to provide a tight security during the Gangasagar Mela, where the expected turnout is over 5 lakh people. 
 
South 24 Parhanas District Magistrate P. B. Selim told IBNS, "A good management is our aim and worshipers' security is our main concern. We have planned to install at least 140 CCTV cameras at Sagar Island for a complete surveillance."
 
West Bengal government has also taken initiatives to make the Gangasagar Mela green and clean.
 
"Taking support from the UNICEF and World Bank, we have promised to make this year's Gangasagar Mela green and clean. We have banned any kind of plastic packet or goods at Sagar Island. Stretching from Outram Ghat in Kolkata to Sagar Island, we are setting up as many as 12000 new bio-toilets. Out of these 12000 toilets, 2000 will be mobile toilet. We will also host awareness campaigns before and during the Mela days," Selim further said.
 
This year state government has also launched a mobile application, which would provide Gangasagar Mela related information to the worshipers.
 
(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha) 

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.