Over 40 crore devotees expected to participate in 2025 Mahakumbh Mela: UP government

LUCKNOW: Over 40 crore people are expected to attend the Mahakumbh Mela in 2026, the Uttar Pradesh government has said. In view of this, Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has decided to add around 5,000 new buses to the fleet of UPSRTC to facilitate travel for devotees. The government will spend about Rs 2,000 crore to buy 5,000 buses, an official statement from the chief minister's office said.
As per the statement, the government has set a budget of Rs 6,800 crore for the Kumbh Mela this year, higher than Rs 4,200 crore spent on the Mahakumbh Mela in 2019 attended by over 24 crore devotees.
The fair is also proposed to be organised on 3,700 hectares of land. The Department, by March 2023, will purchase about 1,575 buses.
"Of these, 1200 buses will also be included in the fleet. It may be recalled that the Kumbh Mela is being organized at a massive scale since 2019 in the state. The area of the fair has also been increased by about 15 per cent. The number of devotees participating in this fair is expected to be about 40 crores this time," reads the statement.
The UP Roadways will also abandon old and dilapidated buses, it said.
Transport Minister Dayashankar Singh said that in pursuance to the directives of the Chief Minister, a plan has been made to purchase new buses before the Mahakumbh.
"New buses are being included in the fleet in a planned manner. Around 2000 buses have been procured and soon these buses will serve the people," Singh said.
According to Sanjay Kumar, MD, UP Roadways, as per the target set by the department regarding the purchase of buses, 1,575 buses will be purchased by March 2023.
"Out of this, 1200 buses will join the fleet. The rest of the buses will join the fleet in April-May. After this, between April 1, 2023, and March 2024, UPSRTC will purchase 2,000 new buses. Moreover, from April 1, 2024, till December 2024 i.e. 8 months before Mahakumbh, the remaining 1500 buses will also be purchased. These buses will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. The government will spend about Rs 2,000 crores to buy 5,000 buses," Kumar said.
According to Sanjay Kumar, the department is working to replace the old and dilapidated buses with new buses having state-of-the-art facilities.
It is worth mentioning that there are 11,200 buses in the corporation's fleet.
"These new buses will be exclusively used to bring long-distance passengers to the Mahakumbh. With this, the journey of a large number of devotees coming to Mahakumbh will be easier. The buses will be available every 10 minutes on each route to reach here. These buses will serve to bring the passengers to Sangam city and take them back," the statement added.