Banerjee  was speaking to mediapersons during her visit to Outgram Ghat to take stock of the preparations for the Mela.

She said, “We tried a lot till date for the Gangasagar Mela to be given national status but that was not done. For ten years, I tried to get the Centre to build a bridge but in vain. This year, the state government has decided to build the bridge. The detailed project report is ready and tender has been called.”

The CM added, “The Kumbh Mela has an advantage: it gets thousands of crores from the Centre. When I had come to power, there was no place to stay, no power, such unhygienic conditions [for Gangasagar pilgrims]. We built everything and we also removed the pilgrim tax.”

Banerjee said that to make Ganga Sagar eco-friendly, it has been decided to make it plastic-free.

“Thus, we will be providing the pilgrims with free biodegradable bags for puja items. Also there will be 2,250 government buses, 250 private buses, nine barges, 32 vessels, 100 launches and 19 jetties.  Also, 2,500 civic volunteers and others are being

recruited. There will be one airborne ambulance, four water ambulances and 100 ambulances at the mela for any medical emergencies,” she said.

“I have met the head priest Gyan Das ji. Every year, lakhs of devotees come here and donate at Kapilmuni but the bulk of donations are sent back to Ayodhya where they have another temple. But I have requested that this time they contribute 25 percent of the donations and build a cemented area around the Kapilmuni Ashram to prevent it from getting submerged.”

For the mela, there would be public address systems available in Hindi, Bengali, English, Odia, Telugu and Marathi and some other languages.