Accommodation problems in Allahabad

ALLAHABAD: The heavy influx of pilgrims in the city has led to accommodation problems. Most of the hotels and guest houses are booked, forcing pilgrims to search for staying places. To address the crisis and also make some economic gains, many landlords in areas near Sangam like Arial, Jhunsi and Daraganj are providing rented accommodation on nominal rates.
This has served as a source of income to vendors and small hotels in these areas as they are providing meals. The pilgrims too are pleased as they are getting food and lodging at nominal rates.Praveen Kumar, who has rented out his one room accommodation along with three times meals, including breakfast, lunch and dinner to pilgrims, sees nothing wrong in it. "If I we offer accommodation to visitors and charge few bucks for maintenance, visitors feel happy as they get all sorts of facility under one roof," he says.Admitting accommodation shortage, a Mela officer said, "It's not possible to provide tents or camps to every visitor and as a result people coming from neighbouring states or districts who have planned to stay city for two or three days try to find out low cost accommodation. Once they find them they recommend the same to others."Meanwhile, the ongoing Maha kumbh is being visited by lakhs of pilgrims from various parts of the country here to take a holy dip in Ganga and various organisations have put up welfare camps. Among these, a health camp has been organised by Meja Urja Nigam Private Ltd (MUNPL, a joint venture of NTPC and the state government).The camp was inaugurated by general manager Narsingh, and president Deepa Sharma of the Aparajita Mahila Samaj in the presence members and officials of MUNPL. On this occasion, Narsingh said MUNPL is one of the brightest symbols of a corporation for people, taking care of their needs and aspirations. The project has been showing throughout concern for the rural population around in many ways. Likewise, Deepa Sharma said MUNPL believed in presenting the humane face of growth with such initiatives to change the landscape of local development sector. tnnHealth camps are organised regularly in nearby villages and this camp is for people who are taking holy dip in Sangam in Mahakumbh-2013."This was a unique step taken by MUNPL to provide medical examination and arrange primary health facility till Wednesday with a towards benefiting more than 1,500 persons," said the PRO. MUNPL is also distributing tea and biscuits to Mahakumbh visiting and displaying its activities in the photo gallery at the stall.