Thousands of devotees heading to the Maha Kumbh are stranded on highways due to massive traffic jams, reportedly spanning hundreds of kilometers, on routes leading to Prayagraj. Reports suggest the queue of stranded vehicles stretches up to 300 km.
Days after Basant Panchmi's Amrit Snan, there were assumptions that the crowds may drop. However, it now looks like just the opposite, as thousands of people continue to head to Prayagraj for the holy dip.
A motorist, however, told NDTV the traffic jam could be linked to navigation maps, people choosing the same options, and bottlenecks in entering and exiting Prayagraj. He said he returned from the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj to Lucknow in five hours.
"In fact I am on the right road, reaching Lucknow smoothly. Travellers may not have planned well and are taking just one road and route. There are many ways to travel smoothly," the motorist said.
Finding it difficult to manage the traffic, the police in several districts of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh have stopped vehicle movement on a route to Prayagraj. "It's impossible to go towards Prayagraj today as there is a traffic jam of 200-300 kilometres," reports quoted the police as saying.
The jams were caused by the weekend rush, said Inspector General of Police (Rewa zone) Saket Prakash Pandey. He said the situation is likely to ease in a couple of days and vehicles are being allowed only in coordination with the Prayagraj administration.
"It is being claimed that vehicles are stuck for 48 hours. It is taking almost 10-12 hours to cover just 50 km," said a man stuck in traffic.
A jam of up to 25 km was reported on routes leading to Prayagraj from Varanasi, Lucknow and Kanpur. Even inside the city hosting the mega Kumbh festival, a jam of about seven kilometers was witnessed.
The Prayagraj Sangam railway station has been shut to avoid any untoward incident.
"Since the passengers were facing difficulty in getting out of the station due to heavy crowd outside Prayagraj Sangam station, it was decided to close it in view of the heavy crowd of devotees," said Railways officer Kuldeep Tiwari.
A single direction traffic system is in place at the Prayagraj Junction station for now.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Kuldeep Singh said the jam was due to a very high number of vehicles trying to reach the Mela site. "The number of vehicles is very high. The passengers are trying to come as close as possible to the Maha Kumbh Mela area. Due to this, there is a long jam," he said.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav criticised the Uttar Pradesh government over the traffic congestion in Prayagraj, claiming that it has also led to a shortage of essential commodities in the city.
Officials suggest over 46 lakh devotees have taken a dip in the holy Sangam today. A total of about 44 crore pilgrims have taken dip since the Maha Kumbh began last month, authorities said.
