A website will help will help lost pilgrims get united with their families during the upcoming Ganga Sagar Mela on the occasion of ‘Makar Sankranti’ in West Bengal. In the melee, several pilgrims particularly elderly ones, get separated from their groups.
A group of amateur radio enthusiasts are adding a new feature to a website - myham.in.
Lakhs of people gather from across the country and outside to take a holy dip at the confluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal on the occasion of ‘Makar Sankranti’.
"We will click photos of the lost person and upload it on a website – myham.in - so that people can recognise the person and get information about him or her," the secretary of West Bengal Radio Club, Ambarish Nag Biswas, said.
"Similarly, if anyone who has lost a member of his or her team, and approaches us for help, the person’s photo (in this case the one who is searching) will be uploaded on the website. The lost person can be shown that photograph and that is how separated people will be reunited," Biswas said.
The members of WB Radio Club, known as HAM radio members, will be positioned at various points on the mainland from where the pilgrims cross over to the Sagar Islands to take the holy dip.
During the fair, HAM radio members will be present at Namkhana, Kachuberia, Howrah station, Sealdah station, Namkhana station, Kakdwip station, Babughat and Outram Ghat on the mainland and various places such as bus-stands on Sagar Island. The pilgrims reach the island via these places and vice-versa.
Besides HAM radio members, people of the administration, police and railways, will be able to access the website and upload the photos.
They will all have the user ID and password to access the site.
"The uploaded photos will be circulated among all persons concerned and that is how the process of finding someone will become easier," HAM radio member Soumik Ghosh, who has been working on the project, said.
Panchayat Pradhans of all the districts of all the provinces in India, from where Gangasagar Mela pilgrims usually come, have been informed about the website in their respective languages, Nag Biswas said.
This year, the Gangasagar Mela will be held between January 8 and 17. The state government has always had a public announcement system and announcements about people getting lost are continuously made. Many people miss the announcements and it becomes difficult for them to get reunited with their groups.
Due to language problems, many people are also unable to explain their problems to the authorities. Uploading pictures of lost people or the people who are looking for their near and dear ones will lift the language barrier and simplify the process, Nag Biswas said.
(With PTI inputs)
