The Uttar Pradesh government has deployed two senior IAS officers, who were part of the team that successfully conducted the 2019 Ardh Kumbh, to oversee the smooth conduct of the Maha Kumbh Mela in the wake of the recent stampede that left at least 30 pilgrims dead. The officers, Ashish Goyal and Bhanu Chandra Goswami, have extensive experience in administration in Prayagraj, including crowd management and inter-agency coordination. They will join Mela Adhikari Vijay Kiran Anand, forming a trio that was part of the mega fair six years ago. The government has also deployed additional senior police officers to strengthen security and crowd management ahead of Basant Panchami, one of the key bathing days of the festival, on February 3.
Security was tight at the mela ground as policemen kept a close watch from towers and through CCTVs.
Over 25 lakh people had reached the Sangam Nagari on Monday night itself. They braved the early morning chill and fog to be the earliest to have a holy dip.
He said these will include two special trains each for Mumbai and Howrah and one for Delhi on the auspicious bathing days of 'makar sankranti' and 'mauni amavasya' falling on January 14 and 19.
Four youths with suspected terror links who were allegedly conspiring to strike in the mela area were held by a joint team of Delhi Police Special Cell and Uttarakhand police on Tuesday night from Manglour town in Haridwar district.
By any standards, the crowd was far bigger than what the festival has witnessed ever since it began on January 3.
A total of about seven crore Hindus are expected to converge in Allahabad.
The flag will be taken down on July 24, 2028, which will mark the conclusion of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela, which is held once in 12 years.
Ahead of the Basant Panchami Amrit Snan at the Maha Kumbh, top officials are emphasizing the implementation of "zero error" directives to prevent a repeat of the deadly stampede that occurred during a previous snan. The Uttar Pradesh government has deployed senior IAS officers with experience in crowd management and inter-agency coordination to oversee the event.
Inspired by the earnings of boat operators during the 2019 Ardh Kumbh, a boatman's family in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj took a bold entrepreneurial step during the recently concluded Mahakumbh Mela 2025, generating a staggering profit of Rs 30 crore.
'The government is of the view that distilleries around Hapur and Bijnor would pollute groundwater in the vicinity and its spill over into the sacred Ganga. Hence, we are looking to close these distilleries to prevent them from discharging water into the open area,' said a senior UP government official.
The Ganga water at the Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj, where lakhs of people are taking a holy dip every day during the ongoing Maha Kumbh, is currently unsafe for bathing as it exceeds the prescribed limit for biological oxygen demand (BOD), a key parameter to determine water quality, according to government data.
For Yogi Adityanath the successful management of the fair is a crucial part of building 'Brand UP' and making the state a $1 trillion economy.
'You don't realise your life has changed in just three days.' 'It's when you come back to the city that it starts hitting you but you now have the power to manage the challenges Life throws at you.'
The previous state government had spent around Rs 1,300 crore for the Maha Kumbh, which was held in 2013.
The National Investigation Agency on Monday filed a chargesheet against six suspected Islamic State operatives arrested for allegedly conspiring to carry out terrorist activities in Delhi and during the Ardh Kumbh in Haridwar.
The CM flew to Allahabad on Saturday morning and reached the Triveni Sangam -- confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers -- to personally see the arrangements there.
Even the saffron-clad Swami Hari Chaitanya, who was spearheading the much-hyped 'Clean Ganga' campaign, eventually gave up his boycott call.
Since early Sunday morning, people from different parts of the city and adjoining areas were seen entering the nearly 30 bathing points (ghats) from four entry gates amid tight security arrangements by the administration.
The High Court had directed Uttar Pradesh government to ensure that the water released from Narora dam reaches here and is not diverted on the way through lift canals.
Authoroties attributed the pollution to the lowered river level on account of reduced flow of water from the frozen source of the rivers in the Himalayas.
The VHP will accept no new map or proposals on the disputed site and will continue working according to its old plan.
The suspects are believed to have been planning an attack at the ongoing Ardh Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, a police source said.
While police initially said there was a stampede, Superintendent of Police Aditya Kumar later denied it, saying the women, all in their 80s, died of suffocation because of the heavy rush of pilgrims.
Security measures have been heightened in Prayagraj and surrounding areas for the auspicious occasion.
The decision came a day after the Allahabad high court asked the Centre and the state government to file counter affidavits within a week on a petition challenging the decision to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj.
The PM said Japan and the Indian diaspora has a big role to play in India's growth story.
What is particularly worrying is that the vast majority will not have access to testing or even to proper treatment. These cases could have been avoided if the government had shown the political will to do so, observes Rashme Sehgal.
This is for the first time that the US has slammed sanctions against an ISIS leader in India.
The festival is billed as the largest gathering of humanity on earth, with 110 million people expected to attend over 49 days. But for the thousands who get lost among the crowds, help is at hand and has been since 1946.
'They (BJP) can claim of winning even 82 seats, despite the fact that Uttar Pradesh has only 80 seats'
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