Maha Kumbh 2025: 50,000 police personnel to ensure safety of pilgrims

Lucknow: The Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 will see a strong force of 50,000 police personnel fanning out across Prayagraj to respond to potential terror threats, cyber attacks, rogue drones and human trafficking, Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police, Prashant Kumar said on Monday.

Held every 12 years, the Maha Kumbh will be organised in Prayagraj from January 13 to February 26. About 45 crore pilgrims are expected at the Maha Kumbh.

In an exclusive interview to PTI, the state DGP said he is personally overseeing measures for a safe and secure Kumbh.

Kumar said this Kumbh will be truly digital in which the police force will use modern technologies like AI enabled cameras, drones and effective strategy to detect and neutralise rogue drones.

With cyber crimes on the rise, police is also taking all measures to save pilgrims from cyber criminals.

"Ahead of the Mahakumbh, the police force has hired a team of private experts from the Future Crime Research Foundation and tied up with IIT Kanpur for cyber world patrolling to save pilgrims from cyber frauds and crimes," the DGP said.

"We have established a cyber police station in the Mahakumbh area for the first time. We have roped in national agencies like I4C and CERT-IN for cyber patrolling and analysing cyber security networks. They will also work on data protection," the officer added.

Asked about the police deployment, Kumar said this time there will be around 50,000 policemen on duty which is 40 per cent more that that last Kumbh in 2019.

About the crowd management and traffic plan, which will be one of the most important aspects in the mela, Kumar said the traffic movement will be closely monitored and effective measures will be taken at the source of overcrowding.

"We have installed 2,700 CCTV cameras, including those having AI capabilities, and parameters have been fed in them to give alerts regarding crowd density, movement, flow, barricade jumping, fire and smoke alerts. With automatic number plate recognition capabilities, parking areas will be managed and estimate of number of vehicles coming to the city can be made," the DGP said.

The integrated command and control centre, having four wings--- three in mela area and one in the city -- will keep a 24-hour watch on the crowd movement.

Several diversion plans are also there for pilgrims in case of an emergency.

On VIP movement control, Kumar said anyone visiting will have to walk for one kilometer on normal days and 3 km on peak days of 'snan' (bath).

Asked about measures that are being taken to prevent and respond to potential terror threats and how intelligence is being strengthened to counter them, Kumar said, "For anti-terror related preparedness, we have got NSG, ATS, STF besides civilian force".

"All central agencies have been roped in to gather intelligence regarding any threats. Armed forces will be there at strategic points and snipers will also be posted. Face recognition software is in place to recognise known international elements," the DGP said.

About disaster preparedness, he said several teams, including NDRF, SDRF and others, will be there on the ground and 54 SOPs for various disaster scenarios have been finalised.

On safety of devotees in and around water bodies, Kumar said deep water barricading, river lines, jetties, underwater drones, and specialist divers have been deployed.

"We are also getting robotic buoys to help people in distress mid-river," he added.

On being asked about strategies to deal with lost and found cases, Kumar said 10 digital lost and found centres have been established and local police will also be there to assist people in such cases.

Police is also preparing a network for lost mobile scenarios, he said.

With women security in focus, three Mahlia police stations, 10 pink booths and a large contingent of women police force has been deployed.

On anti-human trafficking measures, he said for the first time three anti-human traffic units have been opened in the three zones of the Mela area which will keep a close watch on any such activities.

Asked about preparation to handle massive crowds with sensitivity, he said special agencies, including the Uttar Pradesh police training directorate and other institutes like the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, are teaching soft skills to the police force.

"Several workshops were conducted in this regard and an exam of policemen who are to be deployed has also been taken," he said.