To be spread between Sangam, Arail and Phaphamau in Prayagraj and divided into 25 sectors, the sprawling tent city that would be the epicentre of all activities during the 45-day fair would be set up over more than 4,000 hectares
Determined to make the forthcoming Mahakumbh-2025 a grand affair, officials have decided to set up a sprawling tent city on the banks of Sangam for pilgrims and tourists offering a range of accommodations: From the humble to the most luxurious.
To be spread between Sangam, Arail and Phaphamau and divided into 25 sectors, the sprawling tent city that would be the epicentre of all activities during the 45-day fair would be set up over more than 4,000 hectares—800 hectares more than the 3200 hectares in which the tent city was spread during Kumbh-2019.
As per the plan, the tent city would be interconnected with the help of 30 massive pontoon bridges—8 more than the ones set up in 2019 edition of Kumbh Mela. The massive tent city and other details were decided in 15th board meeting of the Prayagraj Mela Authority hed recently in light of the fact that the fair is expected to attract a whopping 40 crore visitors against around 25 crore who had attended the Kumbh-2019.
Divisional commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant chaired the meeting attended by Mahakumbh Mela Adhikari Vijay Kiran Anand besides senior representatives of all government departments. Also, a huge pandal with a capacity to accommodate 10,000 people at a time will be set up. Named Ganga pandal will provide night shelter especially on major bathing days.
Around 1.45 lakh toilets will be set up in the vast mela area and 10,000 sanitation workers will be deployed. There will be 25,000 dustbins, 800 cleaning gangs and an ICT based monitoring system will also be in place for the fair. All these proposals have been approved in principle by the Board and will be sent to the state-level apex committee headed by the state chief secretary for approval.
“Efforts to give the message of a clean Mahakumbh will start from Magh Mela 2023-24 itself. After the mela, 100 FRP toilets will remain here throughout the year so that filth does not spread and the mela area is kept clean,” said Anand. Tourists will also get sleeping pods on rent in the tent city this time around.
A plan has been made to install sleeping pods on the lines of airport lobbies and railway stations. After getting approval from Prayagraj Mela Authority administration, the tourism department is now preparing to float a tender for setting up a tent city spread over 100 hectares. There will be 100 tents in one hectare. It will have villas and deluxe rooms. There will also be a sleeping pod each in of them, said a senior official of the state tourism department.
Tourists living in tent city will also be able to enjoy water sports. There will be special arrangements at Arail Ghat for water sports. According to the official, tent city will be the centre of attraction in Mahakumbh-2025. This time the tent city is being set up in such a way that tourists from every category can stay in it. Cultural programmes will also be held in the tent city premises, he added.
Preparations are also being made to set up a tent colony in the Sangam area. The tourism department is preparing a proposal to set up a colony of 50 tents. The proposal for tent colony will be sent to the fair administration soon. Disclaimer: This Article is auto-generated from the HT news service.
