Greatest
Show on Earth :
Kumbh Mela
Here is a brief comparison
:
HAJ PILGRIMAGE
·
No of Visitors ………………………… 2 Million
·
No of Buses…………………………… 21,000
·
No of Incoming Flights…………… 14,000
·
Civil Defense Personnel…………. 18,000
·
Copies of Quran distributed……. 8
Million
·
Pilgrims expected in 2030………. 30
Million
·
Pilgrims from India to Haj………… 1.75 lakh
·
Revenue from pilgrims……………… $ 12
billion ( $ 6,000 per pilgrim )
·
Revenue by 2022 ( expected )…. $ 150
billion
·
2030 Targets :
# 3.6
million sq m commercial space
# 115
Buildings
# 70,000
hotel rooms
# 9,000 housing units
KUMBH MELA
·
Dates ……………………………………….. Jan 14 – March 04 ( 2019 ) – 49 days
·
Govt Expenditure Budget…………… Rs
2,000 crore
·
Area allotted……………………………. 2,500 hectares
·
No of Sectors………………………….. 20
·
No of Camps………………………….. 5,000
( by various Religious organizations )
·
No of Pilgrims expected……….. 120 Million
( 12 crore )
·
Max no of pilgrims on single day.. 30 million on Feb 04 ( Mauni Amavasya )
·
No of Foreigners expected………… 10
lakh ( 1 million ) from 75 nations
·
No of NRIs expected………………….. 20
lakh ( a TENT CITY for 5,000 )
·
No of Toilets to be built……………… 150,000
( at a cost of Rs 550 Cr )
·
Jetties on Bathing Ghats…………… 5
·
No of bathers at Sangam……………. 20
lakh every hour
·
No of LED lights………………………….. 38,000
·
No of workers for Toilets……………. 15,000
·
Capacity of Pandal in each sector… 20,000
pilgrims
·
Pandal for meditation ………………….. 20,000
capacity
·
No of 4G telecom towers………………. 45
·
No of Police Stations……………………… 40
·
No of Fire Stations…………………………… 40
·
No of CCTV cameras……………………… 1,000
·
No of Policemen…………………………….. 20,000
·
No of Life Guards………………………… 1,100
·
No of extra trains by Railway……….. 150
·
Frequency of Shuttle Buses…………. Every
10 minutes
·
No of Kumbh related projects……… 261
( cost of Rs 5,800 Cr )
·
Pilgrims who lost life in 2013….. 42 ( in
a stampede at Railway Station )
This comparison shows that Kumbh will be nearly 60
TIMES bigger ( in terms of pilgrims ) than Haj
! ( 120 million vs 2 million )
As to how Saudi manages the vast crowd at Haj,
following makes interesting reading :
But
, with all their “ Tourist Revenue “ , I am surprised why Saudis have not
thought of implementing my following suggestion ,
despite
the fact that ,
·
In 1990 , some 1400 pilgrims died in
Haj stampede
·
On 23 Sept 2015 , some 770 pilgrims died in a stampede
But
as far as KUMBH- 2019 is concerned , we have following considerations :
·
Because of expected crowd of 120 million pilgrims, threat of
a stampede are far greater / real
·
We have an opportunity to provide to Foreign Visitors , such
an enjoyable / happy / fun experience that the Kumbh Mela site becomes a YEAR ROUND attraction,
drawing 15 million Foreign Visitors in 2019 to India ( as compared to 10
million who visited in 2017 and brought in $ 27 million of exchange )
To achieve these goals , I urge Shri
Yogi Adityanathji [ CM – UP ] and Shri V K Anand [ Kumbh Mela Adhikari ] , to
consider the following precautionary SAFETY measures to prevent a stampede :
METHOD A [
HORIZONTAL CONVEYORS ] :
Horizontally running
escalators on ground level ( like Conveyor Belts ) , to bring the
pilgrims from camps to
bathing ghats where they get onto “ short-run “ escalators for moving towards
the water and backward from the water
On both the sides of these “ short – run “ escalators , there
will be “ Fountains “ of holy water , forming a long ( 100 ft )
CANOPY / CASCADE , under which pilgrims will pass , without walking
BATHING METHOD :
Under “ FOUNTAINS “ of holy waters
METHOD
B [ ROPE WAYS
WITH HANGING CHAIRS
] :
Just install , one
above another ( vertically ) , several rope-ways with hanging chairs for 2 persons per
chair , safely secured by belts
All rope-ways
picking up pilgrims at the Boarding Station and then dropping off at the
Disembarkation Station , after passing under “ Holy Water Sprinklers “ at the bathing ghats ( without having to
get off the suspended moving chairs )
BATHING METHOD
: A “ Shower “ of
holy water
METHOD C [ ROLLER
COASTERS ] :
Pilgrims will get
onto roller coaster trollies at the Embarkation point .
Coaster will move
towards the river waters ( at a height of 20 feet for a panoramic viewing
experience ) .
When it reaches 30
feet over the river , coaster will slope down in such a way that the trollies
dip into the water
The pilgrims will
get submerged into the water [ only up to
their chests ] for a distance of 10 feet
At the end ,
coaster trollies will emerge from the water , again rise to a height of 20 feet
and return to a Dis-embarkation point
BATHING METHOD
: A genuine DIP into
the holy waters
Main Concept :
Simply eliminate walking ( stampede
happens when impatient people try to overtake
pilgrims walking in front of them or have ability
to run helter-skelter under some
perceived threat )
What can this “ Escalator / Ropeway “ innovation
do for India ?
In 2017 , India got 10
million foreign visitors , bringing in $ 27 Billion
$ 2700 per foreign visitor
as against Saudi getting $ 6,000 per visitor !
With proposed innovation ,
this figure could well go up to 15 million tourists in
2019 , bringing in $ 150 billion in foreign exchange ! ( $ 10,000 per
visitor ! )
This is an opportunity to
re-write our TOURISM story !
·
Ministry of Urban Development to prepare a
MASTER PLAN for Kumbh centered around this CONVEYOR-BELT concept
·
India’s leading Engineering Companies to submit
their “ Expression of Interest “
=================================================
What else can make Kumbh , “ The Greatest Show on Earth “ ?
Please consider the following :
·
Strategically located “ Food Courts “ and “
Shopping Malls “
·
A doctor with emergency “ Medical Aids /
Ambulance “ in each Police Station
·
Free Wi Fi hotspots all over the ground (
Foreign Visitors want to use Skype ! )
·
A 200 ft tall “ Central Tower “ with “
Viewing Gallery “
·
Sitting / resting benches for the elderly,
in small “ Gardens “ all over the place
·
No entry to any private vehicles
·
“ Bicycle Lanes “ with Bicycle Stands every
500 m ( with FREE use of bicycles )
·
At each “ Arrival Point “ ( Railway Station
/ Bus Stands / Airport / Parking Plots for private vehicles ) , each arriving
visitor to be welcomed with a RFID sensor embedded wrist-band ( with a
beautiful rendering of Ganga Mata and bearing a description which reads :
“ नमो गंगे – Kumbh
2019
“
Before issuing the wrist
band, pilgrim’s AADHAR NO will be entered into the sensor
It will be mandatory for
the visitors to wear this Wrist Band as long as they are inside the “
PILGRIMAGE PERIMETER “
This will help the central
PILGRIM TRAFFIC CONTROL ROOM , to track :
# each
and every visitor
# missing / lost persons
#
mischief-mongers / miscreants
#
accident victims / sick persons
For a fool proof solution
for CROWD CONTROL , I urge Kumbh Mela Administation to consider :
# Increasing the no of CCTV cameras from
1,000 to 10,000
# Couple these with a FACE RECOGNITION
software , such that those who attempt
to “ WALK “ ( instead of riding ), inside the Pilgrimage
Perimeter ( area covered by
Methods A / B / C ,described earlier ) will find their face, name, and their Aadhar ID
number displayed on a large LED screen , as described in :
I am sending this blog to the following Officers / Organizations
, concerned with making KUMBH–2019, a happy experience for pilgrims. Readers may
want to contact them :
·
theallahabadkumbh@gmail.com
==============================
Currently , we get some 70,000 visitors every day at Taj Mahal . For
better security , there is a plan to restrict this number to 40 ,000 per day
Without having to worry
about security , can we raise this number to 100,000 per day ?
Yes , of course !
Install ropeway around the Taj and provide “ Augumented Reality headsets
“ to visitors ( no entry inside the mausoleum ! )
===============================================
26 Aug
2018
=========================================================================
Added on 05 July 2022 :
Extract :
Even if you don’t know how to swim, taking a holy dip in the
Ganga would not be difficult
There will be two bath pools about four to five feet deep and
will have stainless steel meshes under to save anyone from
drowning , so that one can go into water without any fear
According to him, the entire jetty will be disabled-friendly so
that they too can take a holy dip in Ganga.
