Devotees going to Kumbh stranded as UP rolls out decongestion plan in Prayagraj after tragic stampede

Maha Kumbh stampede

Prayagraj, the nerve centre of spirituality for millions of devotees, is  witnessing 20-kilometre-long traffic jams, clogged roads, and stranded families on the seven major highways leading to Maha Kumbh city.

In an effort to prevent another big mishap like the one witnessed on Wednesday, Officials and security personnel reportedly rolled out decongestion measures across the Mela area and the entire city after the pre-dawn stampede at the Sangam Nose on Wednesday.

Implemented in the wake of Wednesday’s stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela that killed 30 people and injured 60 others, the decongestion measures, which will remain imposed till February 4, not only include a blanket ban on vehicle entry into Prayagraj but also the declaration of the entire fairground as a no-vehicle zone.

They administration ensured that while the incoming flow of pilgrims was stopped by holding back people in the designated holding areas, the outflow of people returning home after the bathing was speeded up. District magistrate (Mahakumbh Nagar) Vijay Kiran Anand, DIG (Mela) Vaibhav Krishna and SSP (Mahakumbh) Rajesh Dwivedi led the efforts from the front.

Due to the decongestation plan, thousands of pilgrims, reportedly including women and children, are without food, water, or shelter following the Uttar Pradesh government’s latest decongestion measures.

To control the inflow, borders of Prayagraj district was sealed with incoming vehicles being stopped in almost all neighbouring and nearby districts including Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Fatehpur, Chitrakoot, Jaunpur and Mirzapur, among others. Pilgrims already in the district were stopped and convinced to either turn back or bathe at river ghats closest to their respective locations, said officials.

Special trains to regulate crowd

The Railways operated special trains on Wednesday to regulate the heavy crowd that converged on Prayagraj on Mauni Amavasya. Apart from routine trains, Mahakumbh special trains were run from all seven stations of North Central Railway, Northeast Railway and Northern Railway to ferry passengers.

As the crowd increased, a train left with passengers every 5.30 minutes. There is a provision to run 360 to 400 trains in wake of the pilgrim rush. These include 180 Mahakumbh special and 180 routine trains, informed officials of NCR.

Curbs on Chitrakoot-Prayagraj route

In an effort to manage the overwhelming influx of pilgrims heading to the Mahakumbh, authorities in Chitrakoot imposed traffic restrictions at several border checkpoints. Vehicles bound for Prayagraj were being halted at multiple locations on Wednesday, with police teams deployed to enforce the restrictions.

Similar measures at other checkpoints

Similar measures have been implemented at checkpoints in Rajapur, Mau, and Murgaha under the Bargarh police station, as well as at the Itwa Dudaila border near Madhya Pradesh.