One of recurrent sounds of the Gangasagar Mela is the lost and found announcements made at the mela grounds. As the dusk descended on January 15 and the timing of holy dip on Makar Sankranti drew to a close the pilgrims started returning. There was a large crowd at lost and found camps in the mela grounds.
Despite the penetration of mobile technology, thousands of people go missing at Gangasagar Mela and the regular announcements help the people reunite with their loved ones. At the Bajrang Parishad camp hundreds of people are clamouring to get their names registered so that announcements can be made. The register of the Bajrang Parisad manned by two young men has a list of about 1,340 names of who have gone missing and have been united and scores are still missing.
“Though the number of lost and found have reduced because of the penetration of mobile technology. Yet hundreds go missing every year during the mela,” said Prem Nath Dubey, relief secretary of Bajrang Parishad.
Mr. Dubey explained that after the mela draws to a close, the volunteers of the parishad will scout the entire Gangasagar Mela premises and bring anyone left behind to the camps. For anyone left behind, free transport passes will be provided till January 31, he said.
The volunteer who has been coming to the mela for the past 31 years said that there are several categories of people who go missing .“While some genuinely go missing during the fair there are some old, physically and mentally challenged who are purposely left behind by the family members,” he said. There are a number of amateur ham radio operators who are also helping to trace the people lost.
Ambarish Nag Biswas secretary Ham Radio West Bengal Radio Club said that from January 10, about 436 pilgrims have been united with their families using the VHF (very high frequency) radio transmission. While the public announcements are limited to Gangasagar Mela the ham radio operators are strategically placed at different strategic points leading to Gangasagar mela.
“The list of people rescued include sixteen mentally challenged persons. HAM radio operators have also helped to airlift 10 patients from the Gangasagar mela and six others were shifted by water ambulance,” Mr. Nag Biswas said.
According to the West Bengal government Gangasagar Mela witnessed about 51 lakh pilgrims who arrived on the island on the mouth of Bay of Bengal to take a holy dip at the confluence of river Ganga and the sea. The timing of the holy dip of Makar Sankranti was from 6.53 pm on January 14 to 6.53 pm on January 15. The Ganga Sagar Mela was organised with its usual fervour with pilgrims from different parts of the country assembling on the southernmost island of Sundarbans archipelago making the religious event a huge cultural melting pot.
