Maha Kumbh to be differently abled and senior citizen friendly

Prayagraj: As the state government has decided to organise the Maha Kumbh 2025 on a massive scale, the state as well as district administration of Prayagraj have started making elaborate planning, covering all aspects and catering to all sections of devotees coming to the mega religious congregation held on the banks of Sangam at a gap of 12 years.
On these lines, the mela authoritiesare planning to make the entire tent city disabled and senior citizen friendly. Along with this, the fair would be made environment-friendly too.
For this, an important meeting was held by the district administration jointly chaired by Divisional Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant and ADG Prem Prakash. Director General (school education) Vijay Kiran Anand was the special invitee who gave suggestions in this regard based on his experiences of having served as the Mela Adhikari of Kumbh-2019. He asked officials to finalise a concrete plan to allow ease of movement and ability to reach Sangam for the differently abled pilgrims and senior citizens.
“Some of the steps that could be implemented, include special toilets at strategic locations across the mela area for differently abled, ramps at railway ticket reservation counters and key offices and facilities that are set up during the fair to signboards in Braille for the visually impaired,” said a senior district administrative official who was present during the meeting.
Among some of the eco-friendly moves could include banning use of polythene and single-use plastic in the mela area, better solid waste collection and disposal besides increasing the capacity of the Baswar sewage treatment plant which presently has capacity of 264 MLD while a STP of 72 MLD capacity is under construction. Presently, the STPs in Prayagraj have capacity to treat 274 MLD while after under-construction STP gets fully ready, this capacity would increase to 336 MLD, informed the official.
Running battery-operated e-rickshaws in the mela area too is on the cards, he said. The meeting also resolved to take steps to promote local handicraft and handloom products during the fair and increasingly utilize services of young professionals for better planning and management of the religious congregation.
Those present in the meeting included IG RK Singh, DM Sanjay Kumar Khatri, SSP Shailesh Kumar Pandey besides Prayagraj Development Authority’s vice-chairman and Prayagraj Mela Authority’s chief executive officer Arvind Chauhan.