A day after 30 people died and 60 others were injured in an early morning stampede at the Sangam area of the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, the state government has taken strict measures to prevent further incidents. The organization has made five major changes, including declaring the entire cargo area as a no-vehicle zone. The incident took place on Wednesday, when lakhs of devotees were trying to get into the water to take a holy dip on Mauni Amavasya. This is the holiest day of the Kumbh Mela. According to Maha Kumbh Advocate General Vaibhav Krishna, the stampede took place as devotees broke the barriers in an attempt to get into the holy water. Here are the 5 major changes: Complete no-vehicle zone: Entry of all types of vehicles is completely prohibited in the Maha Kumbh cargo area. VVIP pass canceled: Entry of vehicles on any special pass will not be allowed, except for any exceptions. One-way route implemented: One-way traffic system has been implemented to facilitate the movement of devotees.
Vehicle traffic restricted: Vehicles coming from neighbouring areas of Prayagraj are being stopped at local borders to ease congestion.
Strict restrictions till February 4: Entry of four-wheelers into the city is strictly prohibited till this date to maintain order.
IAS officers Ashish Goel and Bhanu Goswami have been directed to reach Prayagraj on time to strengthen crowd management efforts. Both the officers, along with Vijay Kiran, played a key role in the effective conduct of the 2019 Ardh Kumbh. During that time, Bhanu Goswami served as the District Judge and Social Justice and Empowerment Chairperson of the Kumbh Mela Commissioner, while Ashish Goel was the Allahabad Commissioner and looked after the management.
In addition, five additional secretary-level officers with previous experience of handling large-scale events have been deployed to help in Maha Kumbh operations.
Chief Minister’s response
Following the crowd, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued various guidelines focused on crowd control, activity management and inter-departmental coordination. The Chief Minister asked the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) to review the action plan for the Maha Kumbh
The ADG and District Magistrate of Prayagraj have been coordinated to ensure safe and smooth flight of all devotees from the city.
In a late night video conferencing, Mr Adityanath spoke to senior police officers and officials from several districts, including Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Mirzapur, Basti, Jaunpur and Rae Bareli.
Crowd management measures
With a large number of devotees planning to return home at railway stations in Prayagraj, Mr Adityanath directed officials to make arrangements in coordination with the railway workers. Coordination has been done with the Transport Department to send additional buses in view of the crowd.
Control zones have been created at border centers to control the pressure of crowd in border areas. When the situation is conducive, devotees will be allowed to stay as they are. There will be proper arrangements for food, drinking water and uninterrupted power supply in these ranges, the State Government has assured.
Orders have been given to increase surveillance and streamline activity flow on major routes leading to Prayagraj, including Ayodhya, Kanpur, Fatehpur, Lucknow, Pratapgarh and Varanasi.
Judicial commission formed
A three-member law commission has been formed to investigate the cause of the incident. The committee comprises Justice CR Kumar, former acting chief general VK Gupta and retired IAS officer VK Singh.
Apart from the legal investigation, the chief secretary announced a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the families of the deceased.