Allahabad (PTI): Arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of the Magh Mela that will begin with the Makar Sankranti bathing at Sangam here on Monday and on January 15, a senior official said.

The Mela administration is expecting a congregation of 50 lakh devotees on the occasion, District Magistrate Ashish Kumar Goyal said at a press conference here.

For security purposes all employees and officials of different departments as well as labourers, who are employed by the administration for the Mela, have been provided with an identity card.

The boatmen and Pandas at Sangam will also be provided with the identity cards, he said, adding all the departments engaged in the Mela work will be frisked for security measures to be taken during the one-and-a-half-month-long festival, Goyal said.