Keeping The Faith

As many as 900 lakh people, charged up sentiments, religion on the agenda and a state notorious for its law and order problems—there could not be a better recipe for disaster. But there are no discordant notes at the Kumbh Mela, currently on at Allahabad.

Greasing the wheels of efficiency, for starters, is the budget. Both the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government have spent R11,000 crore to organise and manage the 56-day-long event. Second, the seriousness with which the administration approaches the showcase event. Friday evening’s incident of fire due to a gas leak was dealt with promptly and the state government immediately announced cash relief of R50,000 each to the seriously injured.

“The event is a prestigious one and a lot of honour is attached with it. There have been strict instructions right from chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and the state’s chief secretary, Jawed Usmani, that there should be no laxity in making proper arrangements for the events. In fact, the chief secretary has been continuously assessing the infrastructure and facilities at the Kumbh and has even conducted surprise checks of the facilities after he received complaints of unavailability of medical aid, water in toilets and poor roads in some parts of the mela area. He has directed the water board and mela authorities to ensure proper service delivery and ordered

... contd.