Maha Kumbh Site Now Wears Deserted Look

Maha Kumbh Mela, the grand 45-day event in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj, concluded earlier this week, leaving the city to slowly return to normalcy. The Mela site, which hosted more than 60 crore people from across the world, is now starting to wear a deserted look. The thousands of tents have come off, vehicles are allowed on the Mela grounds, and a few people (as compared to the huge crowd) are visiting Sangam.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday started a 15-day special cleanliness drive at the Mela grounds, saying that over the next 15 days, the Sangam ghats, Mela ground roads, and permanent as well as temporary infrastructure will be cleaned.

In keeping with Chief Minister Adityanath's commitment to a clean and divine Maha Kumbh, more than 15,000 sanitation workers and 2,000 Ganga Sewa Doots played a crucial role in maintaining hygiene and cleanliness throughout the event," the state government said.

According to the state government, all the waste generated during the grand event is being systematically processed and disposed of at the Baswar plant in Naini.

The temporary pipelines laid by the Urban and Rural Water Corporation, streetlights installed by the electricity department, and tents and pavilions used by the seers and Kalpvasis are also being dismantled as part of the clean-up effort. Additionally, at least 1.5 lakh temporary toilets installed for the Maha Kumbh will be dismantled and removed over the next few days.

During the 45-day event, at least 1.5 crore devotees took a dip at the Sangam daily. Maha Kumbh, not just a festival but a convergence of stories, traditions, and people, achieved several Guinness World Records, including the largest simultaneous river clean-up, the highest number of volunteers participating in a single-site cleanliness drive, and the most participants creating handprint paintings in just eight hours.