PRAYAGRAJ, Jan. 5 -- Despite chief minister Yogi Adityanath's instructions to ensure all required facilities for devotees and kalpwasis arriving for the Magh Mela, a large section of nearly 5 lakh kalpwasis continue to struggle for basic amenities such as lighting, tents, toilets and water supply. Even after the commencement of the mela, hundreds of kalpwasis in sectors 3 and 5 remain without adequate water and sanitation facilities. Prayagwal Sabha president Pandit Rajendra Paliwal has written to the chief minister, demanding action against officials and contractors responsible for the arrangements. He said many kalpwasis have been forced to seek temporary shelter in camps run by other religious organisations because the tents allotted to them by the mela administration lack electricity, water supply and, in some cases, even toilets. "We had already informed mela officers about the lax preparations. The chief minister himself had directed senior officials to ensure that no devotee faced inconvenience. Yet these instructions were ignored," Paliwal said. He alleged that the administration assigned nearly three-fourths of the tent and facility work to a single firm at the last moment. "This put undue pressure on one contractor who neither had adequate tents nor sufficient infrastructure ready. They are now arranging material from godowns in other parts of Uttar Pradesh and even from states like Gujarat," he added. Meanwhile, teerth purohits, under the banner of the Prayagwal Sabha, held a meeting on Saturday at the Paliwal Kalpavas Ashram on Mori Road. In the meeting, chaired by Pandit Subhash Pandey, discussions were held on the hardships faced by pilgrims observing kalpavas. According to purohits, even basic amenities such as water pipelines had not been provided at the camps of Pandit Ramnath Vaidya and Loknath Bhardwaj. At Pandit Rajesh Pandey's camp in Sector 2, the absence of a sewer chamber was causing drainage issues. Water connections were also missing in sectors 4, 5 and 6, they said. Mela officials said efforts were underway to address the shortages and ensure facilities for kalpwasis as well as other devotees camping in the mela area....