- Tuesday, February 11, 2025
To avoid traffic chaos, designated parking lots have been marked for public and private vehicles, so that the devotees face no trouble in reaching the bathing ghats on foot
By: India Weekly
THE PRAYAGRAJ administration has chalked out a special traffic plan for Maghi Purnima on Wednesday (12) when the month-long ‘kalpvas’, an integral tradition of the Maha Kumbh, comes to an end.
Kalpvas refers to the practice of living near a sacred river for a set period, adhering to fasting, self-discipline, introspection and spiritual purification. Performing kalpvas during the Maha Kumbh is considered auspicious.
More than one million devotees have undertaken kalpavas at the Triveni Sangam this year, a government statement said.
While the fair area has been declared a ‘no vehicle zone’ from 4 am on Tuesday, the rule will apply to the entire city from 5 pm onwards, with an exemption for emergency and essential services, an official statement said.
The measures are meant to ensure the safety of the devotees who are expected to take a dip in the Sangam in large numbers, it said.
To avoid traffic chaos, designated parking lots have been marked for public and private vehicles so that the devotees face no trouble in reaching the bathing ghats on foot, the statement said.
To ensure the safe evacuation of the devotees from the Mela area in case of any emergency, the special traffic plan will remain in place till the completion of the bathing ritual on Wednesday.
The administration has requested all the kalpvasis to follow the rules and use only the authorised parking lots.
Keeping in mind the convenience of the students, secondary schools of all boards in Prayagraj have suspended physical classes from February 7 to February 12 and shifted to online mode.
Traffic jams on highways
Thousands of devotees heading to the Maha Kumbh are getting stranded on highways due to massive traffic jams, reportedly spanning hundreds of kilometres, on various routes leading to Prayagraj.
Reports suggest the queue of stranded vehicles stretched up to 300 km on Monday (10).
The police in several districts of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh had to stop vehicle movement towards Prayagraj.
Madhya Pradesh police officials claim the weekend rush was causing traffic gridlocks and they are in regular touch with Prayagraj administration to regulate the traffic flow.
Reports suggest that the Uttar Pradesh Police’s decision to ban the entry of big vehicles in Prayagraj impacted traffic movement on the city outskirts.
The Prayagraj Sangam railway station has been shut to avoid any untoward incident.
The Maha Kumbh will end on February 26 with the last major ‘snan’ on the occasion of Mahashivratri.
