Huge Visitors Snarl For Kilometers At Maha Kumbh; Prayagraj Sangam Station Shut, Devotees Stranded
Prayagraj witnessed extreme visitors congestion on Sunday as lakhs of devotees thronged the Maha Kumbh Mela, resulting in lengthy snarls on key routes. Samajwadi Get together 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 exterior. In response to the truthful administration, over 1.42 crore devotees took a dip within the Ganga and Sangam by 6 pm on Sunday. The full 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, the complete metropolis stays congested, affecting each street and prepare journey pic.twitter.com/OWS9jMiILs
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Yadav took to social media, posting on X, “Emergency preparations must be made instantly for the crores of devotees stranded in Prayagraj Maha Kumbh. The hungry, thirsty, distressed and drained pilgrims within the visitors jam all over the place must be checked out with a humane perspective. Is the widespread 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. Stories of crowds coming into even prepare engines are being printed all over the place. Regular life has turn into troublesome.”
Accusing the Uttar Pradesh authorities of failure, Yadav added, “The UP authorities has failed. It’s seen solely in false commercials filled with vanity, however in actuality, it’s lacking on the bottom.”
In one other submit, Yadav shared a video reportedly from Madhya Pradesh, displaying police personnel advising individuals 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 Get together (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 someway parked my car in Bela Kachhar and walked to Sangam Ghat,” he mentioned.
ADCP (Visitors) Kuldeep Singh attributed the congestion to the excessive quantity of automobiles, with pilgrims attempting to get as shut as doable to the Mela space. “The variety of automobiles could 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 way 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 have been going through problem in exiting because of the heavy crowd, we determined to close the station quickly,” 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 might be allowed solely from town facet (platform no.-1), and exit might be by Civil Strains,” mentioned North Central Railway Senior PRO Amit Malviya.
Unreserved passengers will enter by designated shelters with ticketing services through unreserved ticket counters, ATVMs, and cell ticketing. Reserved passengers might be allowed entry solely by Gate No. 5 and permitted onto the platform solely half-hour earlier than their prepare’s arrival.
Authorities count on the gang to stay heavy within the coming days, with extra visitors and transport measures into consideration.
(With PTI inputs)
