Devotees believe a dip in the Narmada brings religious and spiritual rewards. Now, such holy dips will come at a price in Madhya Pradesh’s Hoshangabad town. The town’s nagarpalika has passed a resolution stating that devotees who throng the sacred river at three places in the district will have to pay Re 1. And the resolution will come into effect within a month’s time.

The tax is nominal but it will mean a lot for the local body, which bears the brunt of an influx of devotees on all major religious occasions. Lakhs of devotees from far and wide visit the place for a dip in the river, leaving the local body with the unenviable job of cleaning the dirty water and the bank.

Pilgrims are not the only ones to pollute the river. Even the locals contribute to it by emptying their sewage into the river as there is no treatment plant. The local body plans to install a treatment plant from the money the proposed tax will bring in. The remainder will be used to keep the river free from other pollutants.

Nagarpalika deputy chief Ajay Mishra told The Sunday Express that the proposed tax will ensure pure water for the pilgrims. “People who come from far will not mind shelling out a paltry sum,” he said. Children would be asked to pay only 50 paisa.

Only 75 km from Bhopal, Hoshangabad town on the bank of the Narmada, is well connected by rail and road. Itarsi, one of the biggest railway junctions, is less than 20 km away. Apart from the monthly full moon and no moon days, devotees flock to the river on at least a dozen religious occasions throughout the year.

... contd.