GUWAHATI, June 17 - The State government will be spending around Rs 23 lakh in maintaining cleanliness in and around the Kamakhya temple along with supply of drinking water through temporary pipelines and illumination of streets during the Ambubachi Mela scheduled from June 22 to 26.
The government will spend the fund through the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) which is responsible for maintaining cleanliness during the Mela.
�Though we are also responsible for supplying adequate drinking water to devotees and keeping the streets properly illuminated, most of the fund will however be spent on maintaining cleanliness,� official sources at the GMC informed.
This time the GMC has conceived a slogan: �The Best can also be Improved� in its preparation for the Mela.
As part of the GMC�s attempt to maintain cleanliness, around 100 dustbins will be placed in and around the temple and rest camp premises.
Meanwhile, to keep the city open-defecation-free during the Mela days, the government will spend more than Rs 30 lakh, stated a high official of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department.
The official said that in view of the Mela, altogether 35 modular toilets, 545 latrines, 275 bathrooms and 30 toilets will be set up at the rest camps located at Fancy Bazar, Pandu, Naharbari and Baripara.
Moreover, the PHE department will supply water pouches at the camps and other locations during the Mela days. PHE officials said that the department is preparing to supply lakhs of water pouches to the devotees during the Mela.
This time a huge rest camp for devotees will be set up in the old jail campus located at Fancy Bazar. But the authorities concerned are yet to take any step to make the area free from garbage. The GMC had placed a number of dustbins near the boundary wall of the erstwhile jail premises, which made the place unhygienic. But in view of the Mela, the civic body has removed some of those dustbins. But three dustbins still remain there and the stench emanating from them gives passersby and others a terrible time.
Meanwhile, the Ambubachi Mela Parichalana Committee today announced that the door of the main Kamakhya Temple would be closed at 1:40 am on June 22 as part of the Ambubachi Mela and would be reopened at 6 am on June 26.
As part of the Mela, the temple management committee will also stop issuing special tickets to Army personnel from June 21 to 30. In order to maintain discipline, despite its 120 permanent security guards, the management committee will deploy 400 Scouts and Guides volunteers, 400 general volunteers and 140 temporary security guards. It will also install altogether 300 closed circuit cameras in and around the temple premises.
To maintain cleanliness the committee will deploy 200 contractual workers along with its 210 permanent workers. The committee also urged all devotees to keep the temple premises tobacco-free during the Mela days.
Ahead of the Mela, the Kamrup Metro district administration has issued a charter of rules and regulations aimed at the devotees. It has urged all pilgrims and travellers to follow the traffic rules and regulations and to be careful with the elderly and children accompanying them.
�Pilgrims who arrive in groups are to ensure that the elderly and the children always remain in the group. They are also requested to be appropriately attired considering the religious and cultural sensibilities of the event,� a statement of the district administration said.
