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Climate change has registered a significant imprint on the Sagar Island in West Bengal, where the Hindu festival, Gangasagar Mela, is held every year on Makar Sankranti.
Half of the six ghats on the island have been eroded by the rising sea and temperatures during the early hours of the day, when millions of devotees take the holy dip, were higher than usual.
“Makar Sankranti is synonymous with biting cold weather. I have been part of several Gangasagar melas but barely one when the morning was this warm. Almost nobody is wearing warm clothes,” said a senior administrative official.
“It is definitely unusually warm," said Monoranjan Bera, who sells plastic sheets at Ghat 6 for people to sit on the riverside's slushy surface.
It has also been less windy this time, further adding to the feeling of warmth, according to locals.
“The temperature in the morning hours of Makar Sankranti day at Gangasagar was about 1.25 degree Celsius higher compared to the normal long-term trend,” said Habibur Rahman Biswas, scientist, India Meteorological Department, Kolkata. There is also less fog than usual, he observed, reducing the chilly feeling associated with this festival.
Despite the climate impact, most of the visitors praised the arrangements made by the state government to ensure the event is hassle-free. On the other hand, the Union government received criticism from local politicians for not giving Gangasagar the same importance it did to the Maha Kumbh mela being held in Uttar Pradesh, where it is in power.
The Bengal government has marshalled a major part of state administrative resources to organise the mela under direct supervision of chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Pilgrims who arrived from across north India, including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, said the public facilities were good, despite the repeated climate-inflicted disasters faced by Sagar Island.
“Some 2,500 government and private buses, nine barges, 32 vessels, 120 launches were put to use. Moreover, 21 jetties are being used and 13,000 police personnel have been deployed at Gangasagar mela this year,” stated Bengal minister Aroop Biswas, in charge of the overall management of the festival.
Banerjee has asked seven ministers to be active on the ground for ensuring smooth progress; several other ministers and administrative officials have been given specific responsibilities to assist pilgrims from across the state on their way to Gangasagar.
“Our family, a group of 12, has come all the way from Uttar Pradesh to Gangasagar for the first time. The facilities at the festival have been excellent and we have no complaints,” said Raju, a youth from Beura, Uttar Pradesh. “I have been to Kumbh mela as well but feel Gangasagar mela is better managed,” said a senior member of the family.
Krisnakant Pandey, who came from Lucknow with his wife, agreed. “I have been to Kumbh Mela a number of times and it is well-managed; but Gangasagar is as good or even better if you consider how many people arrive at the island within a short span, while the influx of people at Kumbh is over a longer period of time.”
Several groups from Bihar, Assam and elsewhere, with whom this correspondent spoke at Gangasagar, shared a similar sentiment.
“I have been coming to Gangasagar for many years and also visit Kumbh. The facilities have improved tremendously at Gangasagar mela over the years,” said Mahendra Giri, a Naga sanyasi, sitting adjacent to the Kapil Muni mandir.
There were few unhappy voices in between. “I had a poor experience. I had to wait for the incoming vessel for a long time and the bathing ghat was uncomfortable,” said middle-aged resident from Rajarhat, Kolkata.
Bengal irrigation minister Manas Bhunia claimed that this year, the vessel service has been improved. “The vessel service has been smooth this year, running for almost 22 hours a day instead of the usual 16 as the dredging was done effectively," the minister told Down To Earth.
Some 8.5 million devotees attended the Gangasagar mela this year, according to the official estimate. But the actual figure may be lower, somewhere around 5 million, said a local administration official. “With Maha Kumbh happening simultaneously, the exact number of attendees is less than last year, when some 12 million people visited the island, according to official estimate.”
The Gangasagar mela has also been a political flashpoint, with the ruling party Trinamool Congress blaming the centre for sidelining the event and local opposition blaming TMC for not doing enough to helo Gangasagar earn the title of a 'national mela'.
Ahead of the event, TMC leadership, including the CM, criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre for not yet according the national status to Gangasagar mela despite several requests made to them and not lending financial support like it does for Kumbh Mela.
BJP Bengal president Sukanta Majumdar, after taking a dip in the Ganga at the festival, justified the Centre's stand on the issue, saying that Banerjee's government has kept the Centre in the dark about the mela.
"The Bengal government cannot keep the union government in the dark, as well as keep Prime Minister Narendra Modi out of ambit; and expect Gangasagar to be accorded the national status," Majumdar told the media.
Bankim Hazra, state Sundarban Affairs minister and local MLA, countered the claim. “I do not know why he is misleading the people and not accepting the truth. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written several times to Prime Minister Modi. Union home minister Amit Shah even committed to funds in 2021 to protect Kapil Muni’s ashram from the rising sea but did nothing,” said Hazra.
Swami Nischalananda, shankaracharya of Puri, stated in jest on January 14 that the Gangasagar mela would be given the national status only if BJP comes to power in West Bengal.