One of the biggest religious congregations of the world — Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj (earlier Allahabad) — will begin from January 15, Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister, Rajesh Agarwal said on Saturday.
Addressing a Press Conference at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, the National Partner to the UP Government for the Kumbh Mela 2019, Agarwal said, "This holy event is organised at four places in the country. The event held at Prayagraj in itself is the subject of special curiosity and attraction for the country and the world. Following the efforts made by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, UNESCO has included Kumbh in the list of "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity". Giving details. he said over 5,000 NRIs will also visit the Kumbh owing to the joint efforts made by the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister Yogi Aditya Nath. He said people from over six lakh villages of India along with the overseas devotees will participate in Kumbh Mela.
"The UP Government has earmarked an amount of Rs 2,800 crore for Kumbh Mela 2019 along with the various projects of stable development. Besides, work of stable development is being carried out at Kumbh Mela and Prayagraj with a total amount of Rs 4,300 crore from other budget," he said.
Agarwal said that the State Government has already launched a new logo of Prayagraj Kumbh - 2019 in accordance with the nature of the event.
Kumbh is organised at Prayagraj after every six years and Magh Mela every year. To ensure continuity of developmental process, the State Government has constituted Prayagraj Mela Authority. Under the Kumbh related works, 671 people welfare projects have been completed during the last one-and-a-half years. Of these, most of the projects are related to the stable developmental works.
He said that the efforts made by the State Government resulted in setting up of a new city in the huge Mela area, which has 250 km long roads and 22 pontoon bridges. It will be the largest temporary city of the world.
For the first time, the Kumbh Mela Area has been brought under the surveillance of Integrated Control and Command Centre and CCTV Cameras. As many as 1,22,000 toilets have been constructed and sanitary staff more than double in number as compare to the previous Kumbh have been deployed in Prayagraj Kumbh 2019.