Govardhan 2016.07.17 (PTI): Braving incessant rains, several lakh pilgrims from across the country performed Parikrama of Govardhan hill.
Owing to incessant and heavy rains, the Parikrama venue has become slippery.
“A layer of sand is being spread where the rush is less, however at few points the heavy rush of pilgrims has become a hurdle,” Mela Officer A K Awasthi said.
He said the power supply was restored after being disrupted by monkeys.
Meanwhile, the Parikrama route near Karshni Ashram, Panchmukhi Hanuman, Harji Kund and Kanchan Dham has been hit by water-logging by six to 12 inches owing to incessant rains.
Dandauti Parikrama of Mathura banned
The practice of rolling over the ground or ‘Dandauti Parikrama’ at the Muriya Purnima has been banned this year to avoid any stampede-like situation.
The fair on the first day saw nearly eight lakh pilgrims circumambulating the Govardhan hill.
“Dandauti Parikrama has been completely banned. The pilgrims will not be allowed to perform Dandauti Parikrama before commencing their circumbulation of Giriraj Ji,” Mela Officer A K Awasthi said.
Awasthi said that the ban has been enforced to prevent any incident of stampede during the fair.
Dandauti Parikrama refers to the practice of covering the entire distance of ‘parikrama’ lying down and rolling over.
For better management of the fair, the event area has been divided into six super-zones, 21-zones and 60 sectors. A gazetted officer has been made in-charge of each of them.
Awasthi said that to provide better medical assistance to the visiting pilgrims a mobile motorcycle medical system has been introduced for the first time.
Security has been beefed up in and around the ‘Mela’.
More trains
Due to the crowds the administration has make some special traffic arrangements to deal with it.
“To clear the rush, a shuttle between Mathura and Deeg will run every two hours from tomorrow,” Mela Officer A K Awasthi said.
Railway officials said some more trains would be run to clear the traffic.
“53831/53832 running between Jhansi and Agra have been extended up to Mathura from tomorrow while 51881/51882 running between Jhansi and Agra have also been extended up to Mathura,” Area Manager NCR N P Singh said.
Delhi Agra Passenger (51902) has been extended up to Gwalior during the Mela days.
“A special train from Kasganj would reach Mathura Jn at 01.10 hours and would proceed for its return journey from Mathura Jn at 01.50 hours,” he said.
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