'I hold my ears that I will never come back in my life', not only the devotees but also the locals are troubled by the traffic jams during Maha Kumbh
As the crowd gathered for Maha Kumbh in Allahabad reaches the city, the roads inside the city are also jammed. The devotees are troubled and the life of the local people has also become chaotic.
New Delhi: Before the start of Maha Kumbh in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said ' There is a possibility of 40 crore devotees coming to the Maha Kumbh, but preparations are being made for 100 crore people .'
However, till now the figure of 100 crore people reaching there has not been given by the government, but the administration is at its wits' end to handle the number of devotees reaching there.
Not only are the roads leading to Sangam crowded but there is also a huge traffic jam on the roads leading to Allahabad from other districts and states. There are a total of seven roads through which one can enter Allahabad city, all of which have been hit by a massive traffic jam for about two days.
Media reports show that people are stuck in the same vehicles in which they left to reach Allahabad. Due to being stuck in traffic jams for hours, women are facing difficulty even in going to bathrooms etc.
According to reports, the distance from Katni ( Madhya Pradesh ) to Allahabad is about 300 km, but the traffic jam is so severe that the police are stopping Kumbh goers before the Katni border and are requesting them to change their decision.
A video of Madhya Pradesh Police is viral on social media, in which they are saying , ' All the people going to Prayagraj are requested to reconsider . Go back home. There is a lot of traffic jam on the road ahead. There is a lot of traffic jams on the border of Katni ahead. TI sahab has said that we should explain to those whom we can . Request. The road is completely filled. Allahabad is 300 kilometres away from Katni , if we are stopping you here and requesting you, then there must be some seriousness. Think about it now, take a U-turn from now on. The police does not want you people to get into trouble at all. You people look around you , people are coming from every district, every city. '
भीषण जाम की ये Video मध्यप्रदेश के कटनी की है। यहां से प्रयागराज महाकुंभ की दूरी करीब 270 KM है। pic.twitter.com/EoWPUbcC1m
— Sachin Gupta (@SachinGuptaUP) February 9, 2025
भीषण जाम की ये Video मध्यप्रदेश के कटनी की है। यहां से प्रयागराज महाकुंभ की दूरी करीब 270 KM है। pic.twitter.com/EoWPUbcC1m
— Sachin Gupta (@SachinGuptaUP) February 9, 2025
From Maha Kumbh to 'Maha Jam'
Reaching Sangam has become difficult. A woman from Kanpur says , ' We could not find Sangam to bathe in , we are coming after bathing in Ganga. There is a vehicle available from the square to go to Gangaji , we took it and bathed there. … Now I hold my ears , I will never come there in my life. '
Deepak Sahu, a resident of Allahabad, who is troubled by the poor condition of the city, told that , ' The crowd is not only in the fair , but in the entire city. People who come to the fair have come with their own time to bathe and stay. But the lives of the local people are being badly affected by this crowd. To go from Civil Line to Naini or from Chowk to Naini, one has to walk fifteen kilometers. If you go by car, it easily takes five to seven hours. To go towards Jhunsi or Phaphamau, the heart trembles just by seeing the traffic jam. '
Another local person says , ' All the crossings in the city have been left in the hands of a single SI , there is no senior officer. The entire system has collapsed. After Mauni Amavasya, it seems as if the government has left the people here to their fate. We are not able to go out in the city even for our work. There is no fuel in the petrol pump. Businessmen are worried because goods are not coming from outside. Goods are not reaching the villages. '
Nitin, who is deployed for the arrangements of the fair, says , ' The crowd has increased since Basant Panchami. There is a 20-20 kilometer long jam before the entry points of the city. The entire city is jammed. The condition of the administration is bad. People are being made to wander here and there by diverting the routes . The poor devotees are walking 15-20 kilometers hungry and thirsty . '
Nitin believes that if private vehicles are stopped and government buses are run then the situation may improve and there can be some relief from traffic jams .
Though the state government claims to have banned VIP culture after the stampede, people present in the fair area say that they are seeing with their own eyes vehicles passing by with flashing red lights and blaring sirens.
" The VIPs are passing through but others are getting stuck while making way for them . The government must put a stop to this ," says Nitin.
High Court proceedings affected, hearing of many cases postponed
Due to traffic restrictions and heavy traffic jams caused by the Kumbh Mela, hearings of several cases in the Allahabad High Court have been postponed for the past few weeks. On Monday (10 February), the court adjourned the hearing of a petition filed by Alt News journalist and fact-checker Mohammad Zubair.
According to Bar and Bench , the bench of Justice Siddharth Verma and Justice Yogendra Kumar Srivastava had to adjourn the case because both the parties could not reach the court due to traffic. Along with this, the court extended the interim relief from arrest to Zubair till February 17. The next hearing is to be held on this date.
Such adjournments have been done in other cases as well. However, the High Court provides video conferencing facility for lawyers. Webex links are available on the court website so that lawyers can join the proceedings virtually.
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