A confluence of heritage and infra as Prayagraj prepares for Kumbh
Channelising the river, widening the road and levelling the ghat - the work has been going on for 50 days.
The sun is already setting behind the Ganga when Ram Asrey and Harish Chandra start packing up their hammers and shovels. The 62- and 60-year-old have been at work since eight in the morning , helping widen the roads from Prayagraj leading to the Kumbh mela ground. Their limbs are sheathed in sweat beads despite the winter chill setting in.
“The Kumbh gives us livelihood for several months. We get ₹500 for eight hours of work. We are blessed to be part of this grand occasion, which witnesses a sea of people,” Asrey, a resident of Kaushambhi, said.
They aren’t the only ones. Around them, at least a thousand men and women are walking back to the temporary camp sites, where they will rest before returning to work afresh. Some of them who reside nearby head to their homes. Most of the workers are from adjoining areas such as Pratapgarh, Kaushambi and Phaphamau. The steady buzz of road rollers, excavators and cranes that had rent the air at Sangam City has suddenly fallen silent.
“We have a job on our hands, and we are racing against a deadline. We must finish the task by the first week of next month. The shorter days and winter chill will only make things difficult,” 58-year-old Daya Ram, a worker from Phaphamau said.
The silence doesn’t last long. Around 30 minutes later, a fresh army of workers descend upon the muddy expanse of land on the banks of the Ganga. They will work through the night, levelling the ghat and painting the boundary wall, and only put their tools down when Ram Asrey and Harish Chandra return in the morning.
This has been their draining routine for 50 days – channelising the river, widening the road and levelling the ghat—but no one is complaining. For them, this is holy work – building an abode for one of the holiest events in Hinduism, the duodecennial Maha Kumbh on the banks of the Ganga at the site of Sangam in Prayagraj between January 13 and February 26.
“We are happy to be a part of the Maha Kumbh . Our hard work will make things better for millions of visiting devotees, sadhus and tourists,” Ram Naresh, another worker said.
But the scaffolding for the religious devotion is an intimidating array of logistics and planning required to transform a mossy stretch of land into a sprawling city that will cater to the roughly 400 million pilgrims who are expected to take a dip in the Ganga – making the Maha Kumbh the largest religious gathering in the world.
The numbers tell the story of the scale of the challenge – 160,000 tents and 150,000 toilets to be serviced by 15,000 sanitation workers, 67,000 LED lights and 2,000 solar lights, and 300,000 plants to be installed. In addition, the authorities will build nine paved ghats, seven riverfront roads and 12km of temporary ghats, seven bus stands, and commission artists to cover streets and walls with paintings and murals stretching across 1.5 million square feet area.
“Thousands of people have worked day and night to make the upcoming Maha Kumbh 2025 memorable for 400 million devotees who are expected to visit here between January 13 and February 26. The team has done an incredible job,” said divisional commissioner, Prayagraj, Vijay Vishwas Pant.
But there was a crucial challenge – rapid erosion had eaten away the Ganga bank and forced the river to veer away to the right, reducing the land available to build the Kumbh ground. Moreover, the 3,200 hectares of river bank on which the 2019 Kumbh was held had been taken over by the Ganga over five years. It had to be reclaimed.
The authorities decided that they will not only reclaim the 3,200 hectares allocated in 2019, but also add 800 hectares more to ensure the scale of the mega religious event remains grand.
“The 4,000-hectare land will get transformed into a most frequented place in this part of the country in the next four weeks. Reclaiming such vast land for the Mahakumbh was not an easy task,” Pant said.
The work began in October when experts from the irrigation department along with the district administration started channelising the river in order to create more ghats in an attempt to accommodate more devotees.
“First of all, we worked on channelling the Ganga and dredging at the Sangam. This was done by the irrigation and water resources department in consultation with experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. Due to erosion at the Sangam, land available along the banks decreased substantially as compared to 2019. Between 2019 and 2024, the Ganga shifted approximately 200 to 500 metres from its right bank, significantly reducing the land area,” said Mela Adhikari(fair incharge) Vijay Kiran Anand.
With only about a month left for the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti that will mark the first Rajasi Snan, ADM Kumbh Vivek Chaturvedi said “almost 90% work has been accomplished or near completion”. For the UP government, this is a prestige project that is receiving as careful attention as the Ram Temple consecration ceremony earlier this year.
“The job to reclaim more land to accommodate the exponentially huge footfall was a difficult one. Hard work paid off. In 2019, 24 crore people visited here. This time we are expecting nothing less than 40 crore as announced by chief minister Yogi Adityanath on December 9 during his visit to Mahakumbh mela ground,” said Vivek Chaturvedi, additional district magistrate, Mahakumbh.
The logistics challenge is formidable too.
The 4,000 hectare land is to be divided into 25 sectors. For the smooth flow of devotees from one end to another, a total of 30 pontoon bridges are being made, eight more than in 2019. The public works department is tasked with renovating about 90 roads, out of which more than 25 have been completed. A 1,250km pipeline network with over 50,000 water connections is being laid in the mela ground area that will be lit up by 67,000 LED lights . There will be 84 stand posts (light poles) and 200 water ATMs. To maintain cleanliness in the mela area, 15,000 sanitation workers and 150 Ganga Sewa Doot will be deployed to sensitise people on how to use toilets and to educate them against open defecation, said the ADM.
“The levelling of 12km-long ghats is not an easy task. Day and night road rollers are being used to level the path over which iron plates will be placed. We are watering the area 24x7 to straighten the path for millions of people who will visit,” said Anand.
Each of the 25 sectors in the Kumbh ground will have banks and ATMs in place so devotees can do financial routine transactions smoothly and securely. Besides, there will be food courtsand amusement corners for kids.
The state government has focussed on health care, setting up a 100-bed central hospital, two subcentre hospitals of 20 beds each, 25 first aid posts, and 125 ambulances. The administration has also sought the cooperation from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rae Bareli.
At least 13 akhadas are expected to come to the Kumbh. “Land has already been allocated to 13 Akhadas where they have hoisted their flags amidst chanting of mantras. We first allotted land to those Akhadas of seers who were there in 2019. The new ones were told to send their applications which will be considered after December 15, depending upon the availability of land,” Anand said.
Swami Chidanand Saraswati, president and spiritual head of the Parmarth Niketan Ashram at Rishikesh, hailed the arrangements. “For 45 days, from Makar Sankranti to Shivratri, this divine confluence transforms into a city of faith — a living testament to the resilience of nature and the boundless power of collective devotion,” he said over the phone.
“We are looking forward to the Maha Kumbh,” said businessman and devotee Deepak Goel, “and to experience life at the world’s biggest congregation of culture, religion and spirituality.”
