Cooch Behar, Nov. 10 -- Cooch Behar's historic Rash Mela is set for a major makeover this year, with the state government planning several initiatives to promote the 214-year-old festival on an international platform. A dedicated website, online publicity and modern technology for crowd management are among the measures being planned. A 15-day Ganga Aarti at Sagardighi is also proposed as a major attraction.
An important meeting was held at the Cooch Behar District Magistrate's office on Tuesday to review preparations for the fair. State Assembly Speaker and Cooch Behar South MLA Rathindranath Bose, Women, Child and Social Welfare minister Malti Rava Roy, District Magistrate Jitin Yadav and other officials attended the meeting. Organised around the annual Rash festival at the historic Madan Mohan Temple, the fair will be the first major edition during the tenure of the new state government following the political change. Preparations to redecorate Cooch Behar town have already begun. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari is also expected to attend the inauguration.
After the meeting, Bose said: "A dedicated website would provide daily updates, programmes and other information about the fair. Efforts would also be made to reach out to people originally from Cooch Behar who are now settled elsewhere and encourage them to return for the festival."
Security and crowd management will receive special attention, with plans to increase CCTV coverage and use modern technology to monitor visitor footfall and crowd movement. The administration also plans to collect detailed data to improve the fair and strengthen its international appeal.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.