But this year and the last, things have not run smooth. The Army — custodian of the site — has refused to grant permission for the camp, claiming it leaves behind a trail of pollution.
“The defence ministry had made it clear that 2007 was the last time the transit camp would be allowed to be set up on that stretch. This had been conveyed to the state government last year,” said an official spokesperson of the defence ministry in Kolkata today.
The state government has failed to come up with an alternate location for the transit camp.
The ongoing stalemate has caught the organisers, Gangasagar Tirthyatri Sanyukta Samiti, on the wrong foot. Its members plan to go on a hunger strike tomorrow to protest the Army’s decision.
“After last year’s fiasco, we approached the state and the Centre to help us locate an alternate site in March. Despite all efforts, the governments did not respond. Now, we are helpless once again,” said T M Trivedi, president of the Samiti.
Congress Legislature Party leader Manas Bhuniya has already requested Union external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee to allow the camp to be set up at the same plot.
The pilgrims remain unfazed by the controversy. “We are hopeful that they will let us stay here,” said Triveni Das, a mystic who has come all the way from Amarkantak.
Till then, the first group of pilgrims has resigned themselves to camping on the Outram Ghat pavements.