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Travel agents setting up helipads, luxury camps at Mahakumbh Mela site

Travel agents setting up helipads, luxury camps at Mahakumbh Mela site

This year you will not have to sweat it out to wash your sins in the Ganges during the Mahakumbh Mela, being organised in Haridwar from January 14.u00a0

Pilgrims' progress: There will be more than 300 bathing ghats at the Mahakumbh Mela area. Mela administration has decided to grant at least 10 minutes to each devotee for taking the holy dip. File photos

Travel agencies and camp owners are not only building helipads in Haridwar for quicker travel; they are also setting up five-star camps for a comfortable stay. So you can look forward to being whisked away to River Ganges for a holy dip in a copter. And if you want to rest after the rituals are over, check into a luxurious camp along the river. "This year we have set up luxury camps along the river. We have also built helipads near the camps so that devotees are not stuck in traffic jams. The helicopter service provider with whom we have tied up will take passengers directly to the camps in Haridwar from anywhere in the world," said Tarun Yadav of Global Passage, a leading travel firm that has joined hands with Thar Camps for this year's Mahakumbh Mela.

The airport at Dehradun, Jolly Grant, has a helipad but to reach Haridwar from the airport, devotees have to travel more than 20 km by road through heavy traffic.
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"As a large number of people will be attending the Mela, roads will be choked and it will take many hours to cover the 20 km," said Yadav.

"It costs a traveler around Rs 14,000 to reach Jolly Grant via Dehradun. We have not fixed the fare for the copter service yet. But it will be reasonable and in the same price bracket," he said.

Many other travel companies are also looking forward to the event for good business. "The Mela attracts people from all over the world. We hope it will boost our business," said Anand Singh, a travel agent from Mumbai.

Safe and secure

Mela Officer Anand Vardhan said 31 police stations and 41 police chowkies have been set up in the Mela area for maintenance of law and order. Thirty-six fire stations have also been established to control any incident of fire. A Central Control Room (CCR) with all modern communication systems has been established for monitoring inflow of devotees to avoid any crowd pressure in the core area.

Healthy trip

The Uttarakhand government has set up 31 temporary hospitals and trained at least 150 doctors to check any swine flu outbreak during the Mela. The Central government has given nearly 3,00,000 Tamiflu tablets. A total of 4,700 beds have been notified in various hospitals.

Note these

>>The Mela starts from January 14 and will continue till April 28 >>As per government estimates, 6 crore people are expected to visit Haridwar during the Mela and take the holy dip. >>An area of 130 km along the bank of River Ganges has been notified as the Mahakumbh area. There will be 11 snans (bathing days), including 3 shahi snans during the period. n Over 25 lakh people are expected to take a holy dip in the river on January 14, the first day of the snan. >>There will be more than 300 bathing ghats, including 117 ghats in Haridwar and around 200 in Rishikesh. >>The Mela administration has decided to grant at least 10 minutes to each devotee for the snan. >>It is expected that about one crore devotees will have a bath in the Ganges on the shahi snan day: April 14. >>Apart from permanent construction, the government has made temporary arrangements. Temporary camps have been set-up for about 12 lakh saints and 40,000 officials.

2,000

Luxury camps are being set up along the Ganges with charges ranging from around Rs 8,000 to Rs 13,000. The camp operator said the above price is for five-star camps being set up for the first time.

Holy dates

January 14: Makar Sankranti January 15: Mauni Amawasya- Surya Grahan Snan January 30: Magh Purnima February 12: Shri Mahashivratri-Shahi Snan March 15: Somwati Amavasya-Shahi Snan March 16: Navsamvatarambh Snan March 24: Shri Ramnavmi March 30: Chaitra Purnima/Padva Snan/Vashnav Akhara Snan April 14: Mesh Sankranti Shahi Snan (Main Snan Parva) April 28: Vaishakh Adhimas/Purnima Snaan