Admn gears up for Maghi Mela, site auctioned at Rs61 lakh

Political parties yet to take call on holding conferences

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, January 2

As the annual Maghi Mela is round the corner, the district administration has started preparations for it. The permission for the mela site, to be used from January 6 to February 3 where swings are to be installed on Malout Road here, has been given at Rs 61 lakh.

Meanwhile, the district administration through the District Red Cross Society bought 1 lakh face masks to distribute among people coming to pay obeisance at the historic gurdwaras here. “A large number of sangat sewaks (volunteers) will be deployed at the gurdwaras, holding placards to show Covid-19 guidelines to the public. They will also sanitise the hands of visitors and give them face masks,” said Gopal Singh, secretary, District Red Cross Society, Muktsar.

The administration has also asked various departments to complete their pending works in the town at the earliest, so that devotees didn’t face any problem during the mela days.

However, some monuments built in the memory of ‘40 Muktas’ (liberated ones) and Mai Bhago are in urgent need of repair.

Notably, the Maghi Mela is held to commemorate the 40 Muktas, who laid down their lives while fighting the last battle of the Sikhs against the Mughals in 1705 here. A large number of people come to pay obeisance at the historic gurdwaras and take a holy dip in the ‘sarovar’ on Maghi day ie January 14.

Due to the ongoing farmers’ stir and cap on gatherings due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the political parties are so far undecided about the Maghi Mela conferences.

A senior leader said, “We have sought permission from the administration to hold a political conference, but we are not sure about it. It won’t be possible to follow the Covid-19 guidelines in the conference and a large number of farmers have gone to Delhi to lodge protest against the Centre, thus arranging crowd will also prove to be a major challenge.”