Friday, 02 April 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
Finishing all the arrangements to commence the historical Jhanda Mela in Dehradun, the devotees are all set to participate in the raising of the new flag pole ceremony at Shri Guru Ram Rai Darbar Sahib today. This year, the devotees would be able to participate in only the religious rituals of the Jhanda Mela as the Jhanda Mela Organising Committee has cancelled the recreational activities due to the recent surge in Covid-19 cases. According to the member of the committee, Bhupendra Raturi, the committee has done all the arrangements for the event. The committee has especially focussed on the arrangements to tackle any safety issues during the ceremony. A medical team, police force and fire team would be available in Darbar Sahib premises to tackle any situation during the ceremony.
Various officials from the police department and Dehradun district administration including superintendent of police (city) Sarita Dobhal, circle officer, Shekhar Suyal, additional district magistrate, Bir Singh Budiyal and city magistrate, Kusum Chauhan also discussed the arrangements of the Mela with the members of the committee. This year, the flag raising ceremony would also be shown on a big LED screen in the Darbar Sahib premises so that devotees can enjoy the ceremony without feeling the need to get into the crowd to witness it. Another member of the committee, K C Juyal informed that the religious ritual to bring the old holy flag down would start from 7 AM and the ceremony of raising the new flag would be done by 3 PM in the presence of Mahant Devendra Das. According to him, the committee has shortened the route for Nagar Parikrama on April 4 and since the recreational activities have already been cancelled, the Jhanda Mela will end in three days this year.
He also informed that the Mela organising committee allowed the devotees to enter the premises only with a negative RT-PCR report. Those who did not have any report were sent to Mahant Indiresh hospital for the test. According to the organisers, they regularly appealed to the devotees of other districts and States to arrive in limited numbers this year to participate in the event to minimise the risk of Covid-19 contagion. Due to this, there are quite less devotees in the Darbar Sahib premises at the time than the previous years.
