Today I would like to mention about concerns being expressed by a cross-section of people, who want to know about the ground situation in Maha Kumbh. They want to know whether the place is still overcrowded, whether devotees are being able to take a holy dip in peace, about millions of devotees who are stuck on the national highways leading to Prayagraj. There are hundreds of families who have taken a holy dip, but are waiting to leave the city. In order to ease the situation, the state administration has declared the entire Maha Kumbh area as a “no-vehicle zone”. All VIP passes have been cancelled. No vehicles, except those belonging to the police and state government and sadhu ‘akhadas’ are being allowed inside Kumbh Nagari. Till Friday, more than two lakh vehicles remained stranded on highways leading to Prayagraj. They will be allowed to go ahead only after the city is cleared of crowds who have overstayed after taking their bath.
On Mauni Amavasya Day (Wednesday), more than 7.6 crore devotees took their bath at the Maha Kumbh after the stampede took place post-midnight. On Thursday, there was early morning fog at the Maha Kumbh, but there was no sign of the enthusiasm of devotees ebbing away. More than 2.6 crore devotees took their dip in Ganga on Thursday. Everything went smoothly and the situation has normalized within 24 hours due to effective intervention on part of UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
Yogi has directed officials to take care of two things:
One, those who have already bathed at Maha Kumbh must return safely and two, millions of devotees who have been stranded on highways and other nearby cities, must be allowed to come to Prayagraj in a regulated manner.
Seven major changes were made at the Maha Kumbh. The entire area has been declared a ‘no-vehicle zone’ with exemptions for vehicles bringing essential commodities and all emergency vehicles. All VIP passes have been cancelled till February 5. All roads leading to the Mela area have been converted as “one-way”.
Entry of vehicles towards all pontoon bridges have been stopped. 29 out of 30 pontoon bridges have been opened for devotees. Half of these bridges will be used by devotees for taking their holy dip, and the other half will be used for devotees to return. One pontoon bridge has been kept reserved for police and emergency services.
Authorities are making an appeal to all devotees not to overstay at the bathing ghats and return. Volunteers are requesting pilgrims not to sit on the roads to avoid chances of being run over. UP chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh and Director General of Police Prashant Kumar were specifically sent by Yogi to Maha Kumbh on Thursday to oversee the arrangements.
Indian Railways, under close supervision of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, ran more than 300 special trains for devotees returning from Prayagraj and four other suburban stations. Every special train is leaving after a gap of four minutes carrying devotees returning from Maha Kumbh.
Holding areas have been created at the Prayagraj Junction for more than 25,000 devotees to avoid overcrowding on the platforms. In Khushrow Bagh, holding area has been created for nearly one lakh devotees. Devotees are being sent to platforms as per their destinations. Ashwini Vaishnaw said, 364 special trains were run on Wednesday from Prayagraj to carry nearly 12 lakh travellers to their destinations.
Making massive arrangements for crores of devotees coming to Sangam and then returning to their destinations is a gargantuan task. The number of devotees who have come to Maha Kumbh has exceeded all expectations. When these devotees return to their cities and villages, they tell people that the arrangements at Maha Kumbh are fine, and then more batches of devotees leave for Prayagraj. This seems to be an unending cycle.
Another problem is about lakhs of devotees who are unwilling to leave Maha Kumbh even after taking a holy dip. They are satisfied with the arrangements made for food and shelter. They want to stay for a day or two more. Authorities have started appealing to these devotees to leave as soon as possible to allow others to come and take their holy dip. Because of the huge backlog of devotees waiting to come to Maha Kumbh, traffic movement on highways has become slower.
Another problem relates to devotees who have added Ayodhya and Kashi to their itineraries, so that then can visit the new Ram Janmabhoomi temple and Kashi Vishwanath shrine after attending Maha Kumbh. Both Ayodhya and Varanasi are facing a huge influx of devotees. In Ayodhya, schools up to Class 12 have been closed till February 5 because of the influx. Entry of four-wheelers and two-wheelers into Ayodhya has been banned. Lakhs of devotees are lining up to pay obeisance to the idol of Ram Lala.
I would, therefore, appeal to all to exercise patience and wait till the situation eases. All arrangements are being made for their holy dip, darshan and safe return to their respective homes.
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