As millions of devotees are still ascending to Prayagraj to attend the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela, severe traffic jams have paralysed the city, with pilgrims not being able to reach the Triveni Sangam -- the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers -- on time to take the holy dip. The Prayagraj Sangam railway station has also been closed till Friday due to excessive crowd.
Taking a jab at the Uttar Pradesh government over mismanagement, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said, "The hungry, thirsty, distressed and tired pilgrims stuck in traffic jams should be looked at with a humane perspective. Are common devotees not human beings?"
On Sunday, hundreds of vehicles could be seen queued up on the Sangam road and moving at a snail's pace as police barricaded the stretch for an orderly movement of pilgrims. The road connects to the Civil Lines, and if one does not want to choose that, they can take the Shastri Bridge route to reach Triveni Sangam.
Police in Madhya Pradesh's Maihar said that it was "impossible to move towards Prayagraj as there is a traffic jam of 200-300 km".
Since the Maha Kumbh commenced on January 13, more than 43 crore devotees have taken a holy dip in the Sangam.
On Sunday, Akhilesh Yadav posted several tweets, highlighting the traffic situation in Prayagraj and called on the Uttar Pradesh government to make immediate emergency arrangements for the stranded pilgrims.
In one post, the Samajwadi Party chief said, "On the occasion of Maha Kumbh, vehicles should be made toll free in UP. This will reduce travel problems and also the problem of traffic jams. When films can be made entertainment tax free, then why not vehicles be made toll free?"
Akhilesh Yadav went on to say that "there is already a jam in Nawabganj 30 km before the entry into Prayagraj towards Lucknow, a jam in Gauhania 16 km before the Rewa road, and a jam of 12 to 15 km towards Varanasi and news of the crowd entering even the engine of the train is being published everywhere. Normal life has become difficult."
"The UP government has failed. It is visible only in false advertisements full of arrogance but is actually missing on the ground," he added.
The Samajwadi Party chief continued his attacks against the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday as well in another tweet, reiterating that the "Chief Minister has completely failed and the Deputy Chief Minister and many prominent ministers related to Prayagraj are missing. Those who should have been among the public are sitting at home".
As a result of excessive crowd, the Prayagraj Sangam railway station has been closed until February 14.
Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (Northern Railway), Lucknow, Kuldeep Tiwari, said, "Since the passengers were facing difficulty in getting out of the station due to heavy crowd outside Prayagraj Sangam station, it was decided to close Prayagraj Sangam station in view of the heavy crowd of devotees."
The North Central Railway has implemented a single direction traffic system at the Prayagraj Junction station till further orders in view of the huge crowd of devotees.
North Central Railway Senior Public Relations Officer Amit Malviya said that for the safety and convenience of the passengers, entry will be given only from the city side (towards platform no.-1) and exit will be only from the Civil Lines side.
He said that unreserved passengers will be given entry through direction wise passenger shelter.
Meanwhile, devotees have questioned the administration about mismanagement of the traffic situation. Some pilgrims from Faridabad it took 24 hours for them to reach Prayagraj, while a family from Jaipur complained that they were stranded for hours to cross only a 4 km stretch.
Ram Kripal, who came from Rae Bareli, said that he was stuck in the jam for five hours before Phaphamau on the Lucknow Prayagraj highway, adding he somehow parked his vehicle in Bela Kachhar and set out on foot from there to Sangam Ghat.
Source: India Today