Failure to unite lost child in Magh Mela exposes faulty system

Even though innumerable "Bhule Bhatke Shivirs" (lost and found camps) have been set up at the ongoing Magh Mela in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj, the authorities have been unable to unite a five-year-old boy with his parents.

The lost and found camps, for unexplained reasons, are not being allowed to use the public address systems to announce the names of those who lose their way in the township.

Five-year-old Raj was found crying at one of the Ghats on January 15 and was brought to one of the lost and found camps, being run by the family members of Rajaram Tiwari in Sector one.

"The child was in a state of shock could not even tell his name for the first few hours. Later, he told us that he is the son of Dheeraj and Jyoti. However, he is still unable to recall the name of the place he came from. We could not make any announcement about the boy because the Mela administration asked us to stop all announcements on the first day of the Mela.

"Even the contractor who had supplied them with public address system and the basic infrastructure, withdrew the logistics, citing orders from officials," said Umesh Chandra Srivastava, convener of the camp.

He further said that the five-year-old boy could have been reunited with his parents had there been a public address system available.

"The parents must also be looking desperately for their son, but we have no way to reach out to them," he said.

The police outposts in Magh Mela usually do not register missing complaints and direct the complainants to the lost and found camps.

The organisers of various other camps also said that in the absence of a public address system, the very purpose of the lost and found camps was being defeated.

"We used to announce that we have found a person or a child with the description of their clothes and names of their relatives. People used to rush on hearing the announcements. Now we cannot communicate with those whose family members have gone missing. The township is so large that it is impossible to find a lost person," said another camp organiser.

The Mela officials, meanwhile, refused to say why the public address system was not being allowed in the lost and found camps.

Meanwhile, the five-year-old Raj is still unable to recall where his home is. All that he says is that he came to Prayagraj in a 'rail gaadi'(train).

After being kept in the camp for four days, he has now been shifted to the Shishu Bal Griha (child shelter home) in Khuldabad area on Sunday.

( With inputs from IANS )