Prayagraj witnessed severe traffic congestion on Sunday as lakhs of devotees thronged the Maha Kumbh Mela, leading to long snarls on key routes. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav criticized the Uttar Pradesh government and urged immediate emergency arrangements for stranded pilgrims.
The Prayagraj Sangam railway station was shut down due to the overwhelming crowd outside. According to the fair administration, over 1.42 crore devotees took a dip in the Ganga and Sangam by 6 pm on Sunday. The total footfall has now surpassed 42 crore.
Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh: Severe traffic jams have disrupted the Prayagraj Mahakumbh for two days, with devotees stuck for hours. Despite sealed entry points, the entire city remains congested, affecting both road and train travel pic.twitter.com/OWS9jMiILs
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Yadav took to social media, posting on X, “Emergency arrangements should be made immediately for the crores of devotees stranded in Prayagraj Maha Kumbh. The hungry, thirsty, distressed and tired pilgrims in the traffic jam everywhere should be looked at with a humane perspective. Is the common devotee not a human being?”
Highlighting the severe congestion, he wrote, “There is already a jam in Nawabganj, 30 km before Prayagraj from Lucknow, in Gauhania, 16 km before Rewa Road, and a jam of 12-15 km towards Varanasi. Reports of crowds entering even train engines are being published everywhere. Normal life has become difficult.”
Accusing the Uttar Pradesh government of failure, Yadav added, “The UP government has failed. It is visible only in false advertisements full of arrogance, but in reality, it is missing on the ground.”
In another post, Yadav shared a video reportedly from Madhya Pradesh, showing police personnel advising people not to travel towards Prayagraj due to the congestion. He commented, “There is ‘BJP government’ on both sides. One says come to Maha Kumbh, the other says don’t cross over.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power in both Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Devotees Struggle Amid Gridlock
Ram Kripal, a devotee from Rae Bareli, said he was stuck in traffic for five hours near Phaphamau on the Lucknow-Prayagraj highway. “I somehow parked my vehicle in Bela Kachhar and walked to Sangam Ghat,” he said.
ADCP (Traffic) Kuldeep Singh attributed the congestion to the high volume of vehicles, with pilgrims trying to get as close as possible to the Mela area. “The number of vehicles is very high, leading to long jams. The crowd is similar to that seen on Mauni Amavasya,” Singh said.
He added that while a distant parking lot is 50% full, the nearest parking area is much smaller. “Unlike the last Kumbh in 2019, where such massive crowds were not seen on regular days, this time, even normal days are witnessing overwhelming footfall,” he said.
Railway Authorities Implement Crowd Control Measures
With the situation worsening, the Northern Railway decided to close Prayagraj Sangam station. “Since passengers were facing difficulty in exiting due to the heavy crowd, we decided to shut the station temporarily,” said Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (Northern Railway), Lucknow, Kuldeep Tiwari.
To manage the crowd, the North Central Railway has implemented a single-direction traffic system at Prayagraj Junction. “For safety and convenience, entry will be allowed only from the city side (platform no.-1), and exit will be through Civil Lines,” said North Central Railway Senior PRO Amit Malviya.
Unreserved passengers will enter through designated shelters with ticketing facilities via unreserved ticket counters, ATVMs, and mobile ticketing. Reserved passengers will be allowed entry only through Gate No. 5 and permitted onto the platform only 30 minutes before their train’s arrival.
Authorities expect the crowd to remain heavy in the coming days, with additional traffic and transport measures under consideration.
(With PTI inputs)
