In what may appear to some members of society as yet another case of ‘VIP’ treatment to select people and apparently misplaced priorities of the authorities, the Ganga Mahasabha office bearers and volunteers appeared busy on Tuesday, meeting the district officials and giving instructions to others ahead of President Pranab Mukherjee’s son and MP Abhijeet Mukherjee’s arrival in this centre of pilgrimage on Tuesday, a day ahead of the President’s planned visit to Haridwar. A “Swagat Dwar” erected to welcome the ‘dignitaries’ was being given final touches on Tuesday.
A meeting was held on Tuesday attended among others by CO City Mamta Joshi, CO Traffic Prakash Deoli, SP City Manikant Mishra and the volunteers of Ganga Mahasabha regarding the protocols to be followed during the President’s visit. Besides, the district magistrate Harbans Singh Chugh and SSP Rajeev Swaroop inspected the Ganga Aarti site and monitored the security ahead of the visit.
On receiving information about the scheduled visit of the president’s son Abhijit Mukherjee, who is also a Congress MP from Jangipur, West Bengal on Tuesday, the district police and Ganga Sabha members inspected the site. An office bearer went to the extent of stating that Abhijeet Mukherjee coming to attend the Ganga Arti on Tuesday evening was a “matter of great pleasure” to them. All the Sabha members are “thrilled” at the opportunity of welcoming him to their town, said the office bearer, sounding more excited at the president’s son’s visit than the need for actually executing effective action needed to stop continued pollution of the Ganga river and ghats along the national river here. While the authorities are yet to stop drainage of untreated sewage and contaminants in the Ganga at Haridwar, the office bearer informed that rounds of meetings were being held to leave no stone unturned in ensuring the smooth flow of events for the president’s visit.
Notably, the Ganga Arati held in the morning and the evening every day on the banks of the holy Ganga river at Brahmkund is a sight to behold when lamps lighted with small cotton wicks soaked in pure ghee are floated by way of worshipping the Mother Ganga.