Sushil Kumar Modi to open Pitrapaksha Mela

GAYA: Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi would formally inaugurate the

Pitrapaksha Mela

, the most important annual event of Gaya calendar, on Sunday.

Though there is no credible mechanism to make a head count of the pilgrims visiting Gaya during this period, millions of people are likely to perform Pind-daan rituals in three different formats of one day, three days and 15 days. Pind-daan performers offer ‘

tarpan

' (obeisance to the Sun God) in river Falgu. Falgu maha-arti would be organized for half an hour daily after sunset throughout the period.

According to Panda leader Mahesh Guput, there is insufficient lighting arrangements in the Mela area. The agency entrusted with the task of three-shift cleaning of the area is concentrating only on the main roads while the places where actual activities take place are full of filth and garbage. The vedis (altars) also need better management, he said.

Asked about the complaints, DM Abhishek Singh said besides the existing lights, 2,000 additional LED lights were being installed. He said 1,200 LED lights had already been installed and 15 teams were working to complete the job in the next 2-3 days.

On the allegations of neglecting cleanliness in the interior roads and lanes, the DM said in case the agency was found performance deficit, it would be penalized. There is a provision for penal action in case of negligence or substandard service. This is for the first time that the sanitation job has been outsourced. Earlier, the GMC took care of sanitation in the Mela area.

Gaya railway station director Pavinesh Kattal said the district administration is yet to install temporary toilets promised in the area. He expressed his inability to create necessary infrastructure for a second entrance/exit at the Delha end. “We have requested the district administration to remove the encroachments. The second entrance/exit would be developed only after encroachments are removed,” said Kattal. An illegal fish market has come up on the railway land, he said.

Revenue and land reforms minister Ram Narain Mandal would be the chief guest. Education, Law and Social Welfare Minister Krishna Nandan Verma and Agriculture Minister Prem Kumar would be the special guests. Whereas Verma is the minister in charge Programme Implementation, Gaya district, Prem Kumar represents Gaya town in the Bihar assembly.