Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reviewed the situation late night after a stampede at Prayagraj Mahakumbh on Mauni Amavasya and reviewed the situation. The meeting was attended by senior officials of the government level, police and administrative officials of several districts including Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Mirzapur, Jaunpur, Chitrakoot, Banda, Gorakhpur. Through video conferencing, the Chief Minister instructed the officials to further strengthen the vigilance and security system.
Instructions for security and arrangement in Mahakumbh
The Chief Minister took information from the ADG and District Magistrate of Prayagraj about the situation of Mahakumbh area and said that the pressure of the crowd should be controlled in the fair area. For this, holding areas have been created in the border areas, where devotees should be stopped as per the requirement and then allow them to move forward.
In addition, it was instructed to keep all the routes open to traffic and not allow any type of dislocation. The Chief Minister has also deployed five special secretary level officers to further improve the system.
Instructions to repair railway and transport system
The Chief Minister directed the officials that a crowd of devotees should be organized at all railway stations in Prayagraj. He said, “Our priority is to ensure that every devotee reached his destination safely.” For this, instructions were given to increase the operation of trains and install additional buses of Transport Corporation by coordinating with railway officials.
Ensure food and water system for devotees
CM Yogi ordered that proper food and drinking water should be made for the devotees stopped in the holding area. He clarified that no devotee should have any food and drink problems and the power supply should not be interrupted.
Strict vigilance and traffic management in border districts
The Chief Minister directed to keep traffic smooth and increase security on all routes going from Ayodhya, Varanasi, Chitrakoot, Mirzapur, Pratapgarh, Fatehpur, Kanpur and Lucknow. He said that all the way of return from Prayagraj should be kept open and continuous patrolling should be done.
Review of preparations for Basant Panchami bath
On February 3, there will be a Amrit bath on Basant Panchami, keeping in mind which the Chief Minister directed the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police to review the arrangements of Mahakumbh area. He said that the safety and facilities of the devotees should be given priority.
Senior officials will stay in Prayagraj till 12 February
To make Mahakumbh’s arrangements stronger, special deployment has been given to Ashish Goyal, who was Mandalayukta in Prayagraj during Kumbh 2019 and former ADA VC Bhanu Goswami. Apart from these, five special secretary level officers will also be present in Prayagraj till 12 February.
Crowd control instructions in Ayodhya, Varanasi, Chitrakoot and Mirzapur
The Chief Minister said that the devotees of Mahakumbh are also reaching in Ayodhya and Varanasi in large numbers for worship. Apart from this, the number of pilgrims in Chitrakoot and Mirzapur is also increasing rapidly. In view of the possibility of rush and increasing in the next two days, instructions were given to strengthen the crowd control, traffic management and parking system.
He said that barricading should be installed at all major places, regular patrolling, and safety of devotees should be ensured.
