Continuous rain since Saturday evening has prevented the Vishwa Hindu Parishad from going ahead with its three-day global Hindu meet slated to commence Sunday morning.

Heavy water-logging all along the sprawling sandy banks along the holy Sangam confluence of the Ganga,Yamuna and the mythological Saraswati rivers has compelled the organisers to defer their programme.

"The unexpected downpour has made it difficult for us to go ahead with the inauguration of our meet for which more than three lakh Hindus had already arrived not only from across India but also from about 46 different
countries," Praveen Bhai Togadia, VHP international general secretary and master of ceremonies claimed.

"God willing, if the weather improves, we will start our programme from Monday," he told this correspondent, adding, "We are expecting a total of 4.5 lakh people to be here for this conclave."

Togadia, who is a cancer surgeon and runs his own hospital in Gujarat, explained, "Since it was not possible to put up a waterproof covering for such a mammoth gathering, we had decided to hold our meet under the open sky; even our dais was open and thus, it is not possible for us to go ahead with our schedule."

Meanwhile, thousands of people were stuck at local railway stations where special trains had brought them from different corners of the country to participate in the meet.

Since the tents put up to lodge the participants had also begun to drip, the organisers were trying to make alternative arrangements. "We have urged the district administration to shut schools for three days and provide us these buildings to lodge our participants," Togadia said.

District officials were however not available for their comment.