Pilgrims have to walk on sludgy, slippery roads near Sangam

At a time when thousands of people are arriving at Sangam area for performing religious rituals during the ongoing fortnight of ‘Pitra Paksha’, the silt and sludge on all the roads leading to Sangam is posing a huge problem for visitors.

The pandas (priests) and their jajman (disciples), who have come from different parts of the country, are both facing the brunt of the poor conditions.

For the past one week, the sludge and slippery roads due to clay and silt left behind by the receding flood waters of the Ganga and Yamuna are making it difficult to walk and commute, and now the rains that lashed the Sangam area on Monday and Tuesday have added to the difficulties.

Because of the sporadic rains and overcast conditions, the situation has worsened.

The problem is more worrying because of the ongoing period of Pitra Paksha wherein all the religious ceremonies have to be performed by the pandas on the banks of Sangam and the Ganga. There is a large influx of families and individuals who arrive in Sangam city during this period while on their way to Gaya.

“The shastra says that for resting the departed soul in peace at Gaya, one has to begin the process from Prayag where the first pind is offered to our Pitra (ancestors) and so from here the individual goes to Varanasi and then to Gaya,” said manager of Gauriya Math and priest, Anil Mishra.

And when so many people are arriving on the banks of Ganga to perform these rituals, the present inhospitable conditions are not helping them in any way, he added.

While some vehicles get stuck in the marshy areas, the pedestrians have to battle their way in the muddy slush and ankle deep waters.

One of the pandas, Abhishek Mishra said, “These 15 days are very important, both for the panda and the jajman, as many of the disciples want the rites to be performed during Pitra Paksha and the sad part is that the authorities are fully aware of the problem as well as the importance of the fortnight, but no one is there to make things better.”

OSD, Prayagraj Mela Authority, Sant Kumar Srivastava said, “We are facing an acute shortage of manpower and the budget but we are still doing our best to cope with the situation and make things better. Since the flood water has recently receded, the problem exists and this has been made worse by recent rains but still the department is doing its best to improve the situation.”