Gangasagar Mela given the nod, Calcutta High Court asks panel to keep an eye on COVID-19 protocol

Even as the threat of a third wave of COVID-19 looms large, the Calcutta High Court on Friday allowed the West Bengal government to hold the annual Gangasagar Mela, which will be attended by about 5 lakh pilgrims this year [Dr Avinandan Mondal v. State]..However, the Court directed an independent committee to look into the implementation of various safeguards in light of the rise in COVID-19 cases, and to suggest a ban in case of any deficiencies..A Bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Kesang Doma Bhutia, acting on a public interest litigation (PIL), referred to the Article 21 of the Constitution of India to highlight the responsibility of the State to protect the life and liberty of the people.“In terms of the Article 39(e) it is the responsibility of the State to direct its policy towards securing that the health and strength of workers, men and women and the tender age of children are not abused and Article 39(f) requires the State to give opportunity and facilities to children to develop in healthy manner. Under Article 47 it is the duty of the State to raise the standard of living and to improve public health,” the Bench underscored..The PIL sought restrictions and regulations during the Gangasagar Mela this year. On the last date of hearing, the Court had asked the State to seriously consider the plea to ban the Mela this year. It cited its earlier order highlighting that life is more important than religious practices, beliefs and faith.However, today, the State said that it was not in favour of banning the Gangasagar Mela at present, with the arrangements in place. It further pointed out that about 30,000 people had already visited the Mela ground and nearly 50,000 people including sadhus had arrived at different locations. Advocate General S N Mookherjee had submitted that in order to prevent the spread of the virus due to the gathering in Gangasagar, various measures had been planned and were mentioned in the affidavit dated January 6, 2022.The Court was informed by the State that owing to the COVID-19 situation, the influx of devotees had reduced to about 4-5 lakh pilgrims, who were expected to arrive between January 6 and 15, 2022. The State also submitted the measures that would be taken during the event, including mandatory use of face masks, maintaining physical distancing and use of sanitizers. Other measures like provision of COVID hospitals, quarantine centres, dead body disposal facility, sample testing of the pilgrims, checking of vaccination status etc were also in place, the Court was told..The Bench recalled that last year as well, a similar issue of safety of the pilgrims visiting Gangasagar during Makar Sankranti had come up before the Court. However, back then, the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had not started in Kolkata and surrounding areas.The Court referred to its earlier directions keeping in mind the pandemic situation in 2021.“Since the facts placed on record in the present case indicate that this year there are already a large number of person infected in the third wave of COVID-19 virus, therefore, the above measures which are reflected in the earlier order are not adequate,” the Bench pointed out in its 12-page order on Friday..Considering the expected footfall, the Court was of the opinion that a notification in terms of Section 3 of the Gangasagar Mela Act, 1976, dealing with safeguards for the health, safety and welfare of the pilgrims, was needed..On January 2, 2022, the West Bengal government had issued an order under the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and the West Bengal Epidemic Disease, COVID-19 Regulation, 2020, providing for restrictions due to the high rate of infection and rising cases of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron.This government order stipulated that gatherings of more than 50 people at a time for any social, religious and cultural event would not be allowed. Thus, the Bench observed,“Gangasagar Mela is also in the nature of social religious and cultural gathering. Therefore, this order clearly applies and it is required to be implemented by the State authorities with full force. That apart, it is the responsibility of the State to make the general public aware by various means of publication and announcements about the adverse consequence of visiting a small island in large number.”.It also added,“We are of the opinion that there should be an independent committee to look into the implementation of these measures and in case, if any violation or shortcoming in implementation is found then to submit a report to the State for completely banning the mela.”.The Court subsequently directed the Home Secretary of the State to ensure that the restrictions are duly implemented without any lapse in Gangasagar during the specified period.Compliance of the directions passed last year in a similar case has also been ordered.“The Home Secretary of the State will issue advertisements in the daily newspapers having wide circulation in the State of West Bengal and also through the electronic media making the public aware of the risk of visiting Gangasagar Island between January 8 and 16, 2022, in large gathering and will make an appeal to them to stay safe and desist from visiting the Gangasagar island during this period,” it further ordered..The three-member Committee will comprise the Leader of Opposition in the State or his representative; the Chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission or his representative and a representative from the State. The Committee will keep a vigil on the compliance of the High Court’s directions, as well as the measures suggested by the State earlier.“In case if any shortcoming in compliance is noticed, then the Committee will make a recommendation to the State without any delay to ban entry in the island, on which the competent authority of the State will take immediate action. Secretary of the West Bengal Human Rights Commission will coordinate between the Members of the Committee,” the Court noted..Advocates Srijib Chakraborty, Aditya Mondal and Suryaneel Das represented the petitioner, Dr Avinandan Mondal. Along with AG Mookherjee, Government Pleader Anirban Ray, Additional Advocate General Samrat Sen and Advocates T M Siddiqui, Nilotpal Chatterjee and Avishek Prasad appeared for the State. West Bengal Doctors Forum was represented by Advocates Aniruddha Chatterjee, Rahul Karmakar and Gargi Goswami..[Read Order]