Kumbh Mela: How UP will manage one of the world's biggest religious festival

NEW DELHI: From January 15 to March 4, millions of people will descend on Prayagraj to celebrate Hindu religious festival of Ardh Kumbh Mela. Nearly 120 million visited the last Kumbh Mela in 2013. It is the world's largest peaceful gathering of people. Ardh Kumbh is held every six years, while the Maha Kumbh Mela comes after 12 years. The Maha Kumbh is held at Prayagraj while Ardh Kumbh is organized on a rotational basis in the four riverside cities of Haridwar, Prayagraj, Nasik and Ujjain.


A whole city would come up temporarily at Prayagraj spread across 2,500 hectares on the banks of the the Ganga and Yamuna. How do they manage such a huge gathering? Below are a few glimpses into the world's biggest event management:


Money to be spent
The Uttar Pradesh government has drawn up an estimate of more than Rs 4,200 crore for the preparations for Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj and has asked the central government to bear more than half the cost. The last Maha Kumbh Mela in 2013 cost less than a third of the amount estimated for this time. Only about Rs1,300 crore were spent in 2013, with the then UPA government at the Centre pitching in with Rs1,017 crore.

800 special trains
To facilitate pilgrims arriving in large numbers during the Kumbh Mela in 2019, the railways has proposed running 800 special trains from various stations of Allahabad district, an official has said. These trains would be in addition to the regular trains run by the North Central Railway. Railways plans to operate four to five special trains to ferry 5,000 Pravasi Bhartiyas from Allahabad to New Delhi. They will be in Allahabad to participate in the Kumbh Mela after attending the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas at Varanasi.
Railways has commissioned 41 projects at a cost of Rs 700 crore for the Kumbh Mela.

AI for crowd control
The Railways will use technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), in a big way to tackle the massive rush of passengers to the holy city during the Kumbh Mela. IBM Intelligent Video Analytics will be pressed into service, a first for the Railways, for crowd control at the stations and its adjoining areas.

Disease surveillance
In a first, a disease surveillance unit would come up at Kumbh Mela to keep an eye on the prevalence and pattern of diseases during the event. Population density of the mela city would make it highly vulnerable to spread of diseases. Officials say though hospitals have been set up to address the medical needs of the devotees, there was no system to predict a possible disease outbreak. The government will deploy 'epidemic intelligence officers' who would coordinate with medical units to keep Kumbh safe from infections.

Managing river transport
The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has been working hard towards facilitating safe passenger movement for Kumbh Mela. It has set up four floating terminals, one each at, Kilaghat, Sarasvati Ghat, Naini Bridge and Sujawan Ghat and deployed two vessels, CL Kasturba and SL Kamla, for pilgrim movement. The government also plans to start an airboat service from Varanasi to Prayagraj. The airboat will have an engine of a vehicle and carry 16 people at a time. It can cruise up to 80 kilometers per hour even in shallow water.

An app to guide you
Don’t worry if you lose your belongings, forget a parking spot or want to visit a specific ‘akhara’ during a visit to Kumbh. An app developed by UP Police would guide you to everything you need, along with the Up police website. It was decided to create an app for Kumbh Mela because during Kumbh, visitors face trouble in hunting for hotels/lodges, routes to reach the bus stop and railway station and in finding their way on the mela ground. For complaints of missing children or lost phones or valuables, an FIR and report can be lodged in the control room using the app. The control room will be linked to Kumbh police website. The website will display information on lost and found articles and missing people.

Toilets
The government will install more that 1,22,000 toilets ahead of the Kumbh Mela. The decision has been taken to spread the movement of 'Swachh Bharat' to the Kumbh Mela where hygiene is all the more important due to such a huge gathering of people.

Luxury tents
Wish to soak in the spirituality at the Kumbh Mela in some comfort, akin to maybe a top-end five-star hotel? Luxury tents costing up to Rs 35,000 a night are coming up next to the Ganga in Prayagraj. Delhi-based Hitakri Productions and Creations is setting up one of the most luxurious tent cities at the Kumbh – ‘Indiraprastham – the City of Eternity’ – in public-private partnership mode with the Uttar Pradesh government.

A 900-sq feet suite in an expansive tent, comprising two bedrooms and a living room with upscale upholstery, is the most premium accommodation on offer at Indiraprastham at nearly Rs 35,000 a night. There will be 600 cottage tents, including 200 luxury and 250 deluxe tents at Rs 16,000 and Rs 12,000 a night (plus taxes) respectively.

But this is not the only luxury option available. Five private companies, acting as associate partners of the state government are setting up ‘tent cities’ at Kumbh Mela grounds this time. According to officials, tents will be provided to fit everyone's budget. A Lucknow-based firm, Lallooji and Sons, is offering budget accommodation at its ‘Kumbh Canvas’, with cottages in the range of Rs 2,500 a night and dormitories at just about Rs 1,000 per bed.