Haridwar: To take stock of preparations of Kumbh Mela 2027 Haridwar, Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan reached Haridwar and in the Mela Control Building held a meeting with officials of various departments and reviewed the progress of preparations. During this, he took information about proposed plans and also held discussion with office bearers of various organizations regarding arrangements.
The Chief Secretary said that to make the organization of Kumbh Mela divine and grand, all arrangements should be completed in a time-bound manner. He clearly said that any kind of negligence or delay will be taken seriously.
Sewer and road works to be given priority
The Chief Secretary gave instructions to give top priority to the ongoing sewer line construction works in Haridwar. He said that the roads which have been dug should be repaired immediately. Instructions were given to complete the Upper Road work within one week and to finish the remaining work by 30 June.
For daily monitoring of sewer works, a committee of Additional District Magistrate, Additional Mela Officer and Project Manager was formed and instructions were given to review progress daily. Also, the District Magistrate was asked to inspect the condition of Upper Road and submit a report by 10 April.
Dirty water should not go into Ganga
The Chief Secretary, while emphasizing on maintaining the cleanliness and uninterrupted flow of the Ganga River, gave instructions that in no condition sewer or dirty water should go into the Ganga. For this, all drains should be connected to sewer lines and inspection along with videography report should be presented.
Emphasis on PNG connection and electricity arrangement
To solve the problem of cooking gas, instructions were given to organize camps to provide PNG connections to ashrams, dharamshalas, hotels and other commercial establishments. It was said to obtain applications from all institutions within one week.
While reviewing electricity arrangement, the Chief Secretary gave instructions to immediately repair faults in underground lines, remove unnecessary poles and install distribution boxes at appropriate places.
Safety of ghats and improvement of temple routes
The Chief Secretary instructed to ensure regular police patrolling, adequate lighting and installation of CCTV cameras for safety and maintenance of ghats. Along with this, instructions were also given to complete the improvement works of Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi temple routes within fixed time.
Instructions to strengthen health facilities
During review of health arrangements, the Chief Secretary gave instructions to complete the construction of Haridwar Medical College soon and to bring its infrastructure into use. He also gave instructions to ensure additional 3 megawatt electricity supply within 15 days and to make a new line.
For providing better health facilities during Kumbh Mela, discussion was also done on deployment of advanced life support ambulances and boat ambulances.
Discussion on traffic and parking plan
The Chief Secretary gave instructions to take suggestions from all stakeholders regarding the proposed traffic and parking plan for Kumbh Mela and to finalize it at divisional level and present for approval. He said that special attention should be given to convenience and ease of devotees in plans.
Mela Officer Sonika told that till now 36 permanent and 19 temporary works have been approved and a detailed sector plan of 32 sectors has been prepared. Special monitoring system has been arranged to complete all works with quality and within time limit.
In the meeting, many officials including Nitesh Jha, Vinay Shankar Pandey, Rajeev Swaroop, Mayur Dixit and Navneet Singh Bhullar were present.
Before this, the Chief Secretary held a meeting with representatives of Shri Ganga Sabha, trade association, ashram-hotel-dharamshala operators, taxi and auto union and sanitation workers and discussed about Kumbh arrangements and appealed everyone for cooperation in successful organization of the fair.
