Sadhus donning sunglasses and sneakers at the Maha Kumbh will also be chatting with an AI bot this year, to know something as mundane as what time the morning ‘snan’ will be, or where the nearest toilet is.
You could be doing the same, getting all information about the ‘mela’ from its first-ever artificial intelligence-powered chatbot named Kumbh Sah‘AI’yak, available on the mela website, app and WhatsApp.
The chabot — developed by the state government, the Prayagraj Mela Authority, and the Uttar Pradesh Development Systems Corporation — has deployed the open-source large language model (LLM) built by Ola’s AI venture Krutrim, and is accessible in at least 10 languages.
Not just information, most of the ‘mela’ affairs are digitised and online.
Akanksha Rana, officer on special duty at the Maha Kumbh, told FE, “We have moved most of the fair’s operations from offline to online — everything from sanitation to camps, tracking inventory, mechanisms of monitoring, security and surveillance, is online.”
Prakhar Srivastava, who leads digital transformations and partnerships for the Prayagraj Mela Authority, said, “For the Maha Kumbh, we have integrated tech with most emergency services. Besides a detailed website in Hindi and English, WiFi zones have been set up to boost network connectivity. We have tied up with many tech companies for their services, including Google Maps, to mark about 1,500 points of interest in the ‘mela’ area for people to navigate easily.”
For the biggest congregation of humans in the world, crowd management can be a task. For that, the management has AI-licensed cameras that can assist in counting and tracking the number of people and vehicles, pedestrian movement, fog/smoke detection, and disaster management, etc. “The AI-based facial recognition systems can assist in lost and found cases, as will social media platforms and radio frequency identification (RFID) wristbands and mobile app tracking,” said Srivastava.
Travel and accommodation bookings are also digitised, to the extent that during the mela, railway personnel will be wearing jackets with QR codes printed on them to be scanned to download a mobile app for speedy bookings.
While at the ‘mela’, even routine operations like parking, ration distribution and waste segregation will have AI backing. Amit Lakhotia, founder and CEO of Park+, which will be managing parking, told FE, “We expect over 25,00,000 vehicles to converge into Prayagraj in these 45 days. Our AI-powered systems will be able to predict parking patterns, parking fill rates, identify EV charging patterns, and ensure a superior parking experience. All parking slips will have a unique QR code to check parking location and pre-pay for the parking fee.”
Connectivity is important for all this, so, telecom providers have set up 53 help desks across the ‘mela’ area and disaster management centres operated by Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi) have been established to support emergency communications and ensure prompt response during any crisis situation, the department of telecommunications said. Airtel has set up 287 new sites and laid additional 74-km fibre in Prayagraj to enhance mobile coverage. The telco has also deployed 78 active cell-on-wheels in the ‘mela’ area, according to a spokesperson.
In partnership with the Prayagraj Traffic Police, Airtel has also set up over 780 kiosks at the venue’s entry and exit points to effectively manage the large crowds and assist devotees.
A Vi spokesperson said the telco has enhanced network capacity by adding 30 new sites in Triveni Sangam as well as around 40 macro and high-powered small cells covering all major points in nearby areas. Additionally, 32 km of fibre has been deployed to strengthen back-haul connectivity.
For all those missing the action, Vi has partnered with Shemaroo to live-stream the entire fair on the Vi Movies & TV app. A Vi spokesperson told FE, “Users can experience the ‘shahi snans’ on Makar Sankranti, Mauni Amavasya and Maha Shivratri, and access exclusive recorded content, anchored tours of ‘akharas’, cultural performances of folk music and devotional songs, as well as stories of the colossal infrastructure supporting millions of pilgrims.”