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Mahakumbh: Sea of devotees at Sangam, barricades breached amid Akhara procession

By, Mahakumbh Nagar (prayagraj)
Jan 14, 2025 10:41 PM IST

Devotees at Sangam for Makar Sankranti caused chaos as they rushed to see sadhus during Amrit Snan, leading to crowd management issues and medical emergencies.

: There was a little chaos when devotees in large numbers thronged Sangam banks here for a holy dip on Makar Sankranti before sadhus of different Akharas reached there for first Amrit Snan of Mahakumbh 2025 early on Monday morning.

Devotees in large numbers could be seen at Sangam ghats for Makar Sankranti bathing on January 14. (HT photo)
Devotees in large numbers could be seen at Sangam ghats for Makar Sankranti bathing on January 14. (HT photo)

After taking the dip, the devotees moved to the area marked for the Akharas to have glimpse of the Naga Sadhus and seek their blessings. The mela administration had erected barricading, deployed a contingent of security force for crowd management and cleared the path for the movement of the sadhus to the area marked for their bathing.

When the sadhus and Mahamandaleshwars of Shri Panchayati Akhara Mahanirvani and Sambhu Panchayati Atal Akhara arrived at Sangam, the crowd turned restive and several of them crossed the barricading and moved toward the procession. This made administration’s crowd management plan go haywire.

Several devotees joined the procession and moved with the sadhus toward the Sangam. The follower of the Shri Panchayati Akhada Mahanirvani and Sambhu Panchayati Atal Akhada too joined the procession.

As the sadhus took the holy dip at the Sangam ghat marked for them, the devotees too pushed their way to join the Amrit Snan. For a while, chaos prevailed when the security personnel tried to control the crowd.

The devotees were pushed outside the barricading. Some sadhus too joined the security personnel in moving the people out of the ghat. Later, mounted police personnel moved in to clear the people from the area marked for the Akharas.

Several devotees fell unconscious in the melee. Their family members called for medical assistance. The security personnel alerted the medical team and moved them outside the barricading. Mahanth Ishan Puri of Mahanirvani Akhara said four devotees who fell unconscious near the ghat were moved to safer spot by the volunteers of the Akhara.

A devotee Sheetal Pal from Rajasthan said his father fell unconscious near the ghat. “The sadhus were moving towards the ghat. Fearing that he (Pal’s father) might be hurt, I called the security personnel who shifted him to a safer spot. Later, a policemen performed a successful CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) to revive him,” he said.

A young girl Saloni, who had come from Saharanpur, too fell unconscious near the Sangam ghat. The medical team stationed with an ambulance there gave medical aide to her. Later, she was taken to a nearby medical centre in the ambulance.

The mela administration made announcement on the public address system urging devotees to clear the Sangam area but the request remained ignored.

The devotees stood near the path moving from the pontoon bridge connecting the Akhara camp with the Sangam area. Later, senior police officers moved to the ground with police force to clear the crowd.

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