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Minesweepers to be used at Kumbh Mela

Special minesweepers from the Indian Army have been commissioned to keep the vast 6000-acre Kumbh Mela area free of explosives, that may be hidden along the stretch of the bathing ghats that will draw some 70 million Hindu devotees over the 42-day event commencing Monday.

This is being done in view of the general apprehension that such a large assembly of people could be a "soft target" for militants.

"We have not received any definite intelligence report, but this was basically a precautionary measure," said a government spokesman. The Air Force has been asked to maintain aerial reconnaissance, for which two helicopters have been sent.

Pilgrims from different corners of the country have begun to arrive in search of the heavenly benediction that they believe will come their way with a dip at the holy confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and now invisible Saraswati, popularly known as the 'Triveni Sangam'.

Braving the early morning chilly wind, with an overcast sky, thousands could be seen bathing along the ghats, near the 'sangam'. Those who could afford boats and were willing to venture further into the wide expanse of the rivers, thronged at the 'sangam', where mobile 'pujaris' performed traditional rituals while pilgrims took a dip.

"We decided to take a dip on Friday only because once the mela formally begins from Poos Purnima on January 9 , no commoner will be allowed at this holiest of holy spots", 57-year-old Ramesh Dikshit, who had arrived from Bihar along with his wife, told rediff.com.

Evidently, it was not the time for long-bearded, saffron-clad or semi-clad sadhus to converge at this spot. "The sadhus will come with their 'akharas' with effect from January 14, the first day of their 'shahi snan'," said Sada Kant, the mela commissioner .

Kant, virtually camping at the mela site, told rediff.com, "The 'sangam' area has been reserved for 'akharas' (religious groups) who consider it their exclusive right to bathe at the holy confluence."

"That is why we have created temporary bathing ghats running nearly six km. along either bank of the Ganga from the 'sangam'; in fact 80 per cent of the crowd will bathe at these ghats," the commissioner said.

Of the six "most auspicious days" for the holy dip, the 'shahi snan' will be on January 14, 24 and 29, when the assembly of other devotees too will break all records . "While about 80 lakh persons are expected to take a dip on January 14, the highest number of devotees (about 30 million) will converge for a holy bath on January 24 ( which according to the Hindu calendar is 'Mauni Amavasya'); this will be followed by about 1.5 crore people on January 29,'' Kant pointed out.

Arrivals on each other key dates - January 9 , February 8 and February 21 - are not expected to be to be more than 50 lakhs.

"The biggest challenge is crowd management," admitted Alok Sharma, Kumbh Mela senior superintendent of police. He was, however, confident of ensuring the smooth movement of people. "We have made separate entry and exit points at the ghats, which are directly connected to each of the 11 sectors in which the entire area is divided," he said.

On what had been done to avoid a stampede, he replied, "We will strictly regulate the entry from outer arrival points, including four railway stations, where 200 special trains will arrive with loads of devotees, besides five new bus stations, where people will arrive by over 4000 special buses during the festival season."

The timing to stay at the bathing ghats is also limited to barely five to seven minutes for every batch . A large contingent of water police has been specially commissioned to keep a constant watch from boats to ensure that no one spends more than the specified time and promptly attend to any emergency.

A stampede in 1954 had claimed more than 500 lives.

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