Prayagraj witnessed extreme visitors congestion on Sunday as lakhs of devotees thronged the Maha Kumbh Mela, resulting in lengthy snarls on key routes. Samajwadi Celebration president Akhilesh Yadav criticized the Uttar Pradesh authorities and urged rapid emergency preparations for stranded pilgrims.
The Prayagraj Sangam railway station was shut down because of the overwhelming crowd outdoors. In keeping with the truthful administration, over 1.42 crore devotees took a dip within the Ganga and Sangam by 6 pm on Sunday. The entire footfall has now surpassed 42 crore.
Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh: Extreme visitors jams have disrupted the Prayagraj Mahakumbh for 2 days, with devotees caught for hours. Regardless of sealed entry factors, your complete metropolis stays congested, affecting each highway and prepare journey pic.twitter.com/OWS9jMiILs
— IANS (@ians_india) February 10, 2025
Yadav took to social media, posting on X, “Emergency preparations needs to be made instantly for the crores of devotees stranded in Prayagraj Maha Kumbh. The hungry, thirsty, distressed and drained pilgrims within the visitors jam in every single place needs to be checked out with a humane perspective. Is the frequent devotee not a human being?”
Highlighting the extreme congestion, he wrote, “There may be already a jam in Nawabganj, 30 km earlier than Prayagraj from Lucknow, in Gauhania, 16 km earlier than Rewa Street, and a jam of 12-15 km in direction of Varanasi. Reviews of crowds coming into even prepare engines are being printed in every single place. Regular life has grow to be troublesome.”
Accusing the Uttar Pradesh authorities of failure, Yadav added, “The UP authorities has failed. It’s seen solely in false commercials stuffed with vanity, however in actuality, it’s lacking on the bottom.”
In one other put up, Yadav shared a video reportedly from Madhya Pradesh, displaying police personnel advising folks to not journey in direction of Prayagraj because of the congestion. He commented, “There may be ‘BJP authorities’ on either side. One says come to Maha Kumbh, the opposite says do not cross over.”
The Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP) is in energy in each Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Devotees Battle Amid Gridlock
Ram Kripal, a devotee from Rae Bareli, mentioned he was caught in visitors for 5 hours close to Phaphamau on the Lucknow-Prayagraj freeway. “I in some way parked my car in Bela Kachhar and walked to Sangam Ghat,” he mentioned.
ADCP (Site visitors) Kuldeep Singh attributed the congestion to the excessive quantity of autos, with pilgrims making an attempt to get as shut as doable to the Mela space. “The variety of autos may be very excessive, resulting in lengthy jams. The group is just like that seen on Mauni Amavasya,” Singh mentioned.
He added that whereas a distant car parking zone is 50% full, the closest parking space is far smaller. “In contrast to the final Kumbh in 2019, the place such huge crowds weren’t seen on common days, this time, even regular days are witnessing overwhelming footfall,” he mentioned.
Railway Authorities Implement Crowd Management Measures
With the scenario worsening, the Northern Railway determined to shut Prayagraj Sangam station. “Since passengers had been dealing with issue in exiting because of the heavy crowd, we determined to close the station briefly,” mentioned Senior Divisional Industrial Supervisor (Northern Railway), Lucknow, Kuldeep Tiwari.
To handle the gang, the North Central Railway has carried out a single-direction visitors system at Prayagraj Junction. “For security and comfort, entry shall be allowed solely from the town aspect (platform no.-1), and exit shall be by way of Civil Strains,” mentioned North Central Railway Senior PRO Amit Malviya.
Unreserved passengers will enter by way of designated shelters with ticketing amenities by way of unreserved ticket counters, ATVMs, and cellular ticketing. Reserved passengers shall be allowed entry solely by way of Gate No. 5 and permitted onto the platform solely 30 minutes earlier than their prepare’s arrival.
Authorities anticipate the gang to stay heavy within the coming days, with further visitors and transport measures into account.
(With PTI inputs)
