Guides knowing foreign languages to help tourists in Allahabad Magh Mela

There is a demand for tour guides with knowledge of foreign languages to help foreign tourists who will be arriving to participate in the in Allahabad Magh Mela which will start on January 12, 2017. It will be a special Magh Mela for the foreign tourists because the administration has decided to rope in guides with multi-language skills. They will brief foreign tourists on history, tradition, culture and importance of the mela.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 14 December 2016.

It is understood that tour operators from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Austria, Greece, Poland, and Switzerland have expressed their desire to have a glimpse of Indian culture and tradition on the banks of Ganga during the month-long religious fair. Hence the need for guides who are fluent in foreign languages.
They would be inducted from Agra, Mathura and Varanasi - these are locations where there usually is a sizeable chunk of foreign tourists who arrive all through the year.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org
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Allahabad Magh Mela assured of smooth flow of water in the Ganges

The Allahabad Magh Mela will begin from January 12 and over three crore of devotees, pilgrims and seers are expected to be arriving to participate in the annual ritual. Hence, there is a need to have adequate quantity of clean and flowing water in Ganga for holy dip at Sangam.
Saints and seers have demanded aviral dhara (smooth flow of water) during the entire mela period and have expressed their satisfaction over the measures that are being initiated by the Magh Mela administration.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 30 November 2016.

The Magh Mela authorities have arranged for water to be released from Tehri and Narora dams from December 15 and 22, respectively till the end of the mela period on February 24. In order to do this, water would be released every from December 15 onwards - the amount of water would be around 1,000 cu-sec from Tehri Dam. Subsequently, from December 22, another 4,000 cusec would be released from Narora dam. In addition, there would be water from the Ganga barrage for the main bathing days.
It normally takes 10 to 12 days for the water to reach Allahabad from Narora dam.
The continuous flow of water is expected to improve the quality of Ganga water during the mela period.


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Rajghat bridge lies between Varanasi and Chandauli and a large number of people had gathered there for a religious event. A total of 19 people were confirmed dead and 15 of them were were females, and 4 were males. The incident happened when thousands of followers of religious leader Jai Gurudev were on their way to Domri village on the banks of the Ganga to participate in the two-day camp.
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This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 3 September 2016.

The PCB had asked the regional office at Roorkee to provide a list of hotels in Haridwar with 20 or more rooms. Accordingly, a list of 125 hotels in this category was submitted to the PCB and all these hotels are allegedly flouting the NGT order because their sewage goes directly into the Ganga.
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#namaamigange #ganga #UmaBharti #Haridwar Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti has taken a decision to stay of the banks of the Ganga for 3 to 4 days in a week in order to keep a tab on the drains that empty their wastes into the waters of the river.
She has, apparently, taken a tour of the city of Haridwar on a motorbike to acquaint herself with the existing sewage system.
This has been reported in ibnlive.com dated 20 May 2015.

Obviously, she has formed certain ideas on how best to tackle this problem that is unique in the Indian context because the river is a holy river and everyone believes that its waters ae pure irrespective of its level of pollution.
The Modi government is celebrating its one-year in office and Namaami Gange (Ganga Clean-up mission) is close to his heart. He has assigned this task to Uma Bharti and she has admitted that the first year was devoted to making financial provisions and lengthy paperwork.
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This work, in her estimate, will go on till October 2016. During this time, she would be checking the drains on the banks of the river to see what flows into the Ganga to make it dirty.
She has not yet decided on what her plans are beyond October 2016.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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