LUCKNOW: After Sunday’s fire, safety measures have been spruced up by the Maha Kumbh administration. It has been decided to set up a fire station for every 800 square metre of the mela area where over 1.6 lakh tents have been put up.
On Tuesday, teams of police and fire services personnel started an awareness and checking drive to ensure that there were no illegal cylinders kept in any of the camps.
An emergency meeting of the food and civil supplies department, fire safety officials and LPG distributors was also held. Besides, the fire safety department issued ‘dos and don’ts’ for the devotees staying in the mela area.
It was decided during the meeting that strict action would be taken against those found misusing domestic LPG or selling unauthorised cylinders.
In all, 53 fire stations and 20 fire posts have been set up to deal with fire. More than 1,300 firemen and 300 fire-tenders are ready to deal with any eventuality, said a senior official of the fire safety department.
Prayagraj and Lucknow have nine and 11 fire stations, while the mela area 53.
“This was the reason we could control the Sunday fire incident. Our set up is such that a fire tender will not take more than three-four minutes to reach any site in the mela area,” the official says.
More 4,300 fire hydrants have been strategically deployed to handle any emergency.
The fire department was allocated a budget of `66.75 crore, while the overall budget for fire safety equipment and vehicles is `131.48 crore. Each akhara’s tents have also been equipped with fire safety gear.
In preparation for the event, dozens of mock drills have been organised in collaboration with NDRF and SDRF, ensuring that all personnel were prepared to respond to emergencies.
Special flights to be parked at 11 airports in 4 states
In view of the massive air traffic expected for Mauni Amavasya on January 29 in the Maha Kumbh, arrangements have been made to park chartered and special flights at 11 airports spread across four states. These airports are situated within 600 km from Prayagraj. The Prayagraj airport is expected to handle more than 200 flights on January 29, when 8-10 crore devotees are expected to visit Maha Kumbh.
The Airport Authority of India has already sought assistance from these airports situated in UP, Bihar, MP and Jharkhand. The airports which have been contacted for providing parking facilities are Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Gaya, Khajuraho, Jabalpur, Bhopal, Deoghar and Chitrakoot. The Chitrakoot airport will be reserved for emergency parking.
The Prayagraj airport is already handling an unprecedented number of flights and passengers. Approximately 40,000 have either landed at or taken off from the airport which is an all-time record. Expecting a large number of international passengers, the airport has set up customs and
2 booked for spreading fake news at Mela
Two persons have been booked for allegedly spreading fake news about the Maha Kumbh through social media. According to police, the two have uploaded a video of a runaway minor girl chatting with a sadhu and called it “inappropriate”. A complaint has been lodged. But the matter has turned out to be fake.
PM to visit Maha Kumbh on Feb 5, Prez on Feb 10
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Maha Kumbh on February 5, according to sources. Union Home Minister Amit Shah may attend the mela on January 27, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on February 1 and the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, is expected to part of the celebrations on February 10.
