Indian Railways will use technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), in a big way to tackle the massive rush of passengers to the holy city of Allahabad during the upcoming Kumbh Mela - for which it will deploy at least 800 special trains.
IBM Intelligent Video Analytics will be pressed into service, a first for the railways, for crowd control at stations and its adjoining areas during the Ardh Kumbh Mela.
Kumbh Rail Seva, a new mobile app, will soon be launched to disseminate information to train users and others travelling to one of the world’s largest religious events, which is expected to attract over a 100mn people.
“We have finalised the action plan for this Kumbh Mela taking all possible factors into consideration,” North Central Railway general manager Rajeev Choudhury told IANS.
With the 2013 stampede fresh in mind, the national transporter is not leaving anything to chance and is focusing mainly on crowd management at the main junction and its adjoining stations.
“We will be using the technology in a significant way to facilitate crowd movement in a smooth way,” Choudhury said, adding: “While IBM will provide video analytics service using Artificial Intelligence for crowd control, there will be a large number of powerful CCTV cameras to monitor the situation and LED screens for displaying information.”
Besides, social media will be extensively used for keeping the pilgrims updated on a real-time basis.
More than 5,000 Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel will be deployed to manage the crowd movement at 10 stations in and around Allahabad, Prayag, Prayag Ghat, Jhunsi, Naini and Cheoki.
The Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mystical Saraswati rivers, will begin from January 15 and conclude on March 4.
According to the Uttar Pradesh government, 12mn pilgrims are expected on January 15 (Makar Sankranti), 5.5mn on Januray 21 (Paush Purnima), 30mn on February 4 (Mauni Amavasya), 20mn on February 10 (Basant Panchami), 16mn on February 19 (Maghi Purnima), and 6mn on March 4 (Mahashivratri).
Acknowledging the size and grandeur of the congregration, Choudhury said: “It is no doubt challenging to manage the rush at stations but we are confident of making it a successful and smooth event.”
Close co-ordination with the state administration is another step that the railways is pursuing to make the event a success.
Work is underway to make operational a new platform, a foot-over bridge and skywalks, among other infrastructure projects, at the stations to ensure hassle-free movement of passengers.
He said the aim is to decongest all possible crowded places so that people coming from different directions can move towards the bathing ghats and return safely.
Each station will have its own traffic management plan. The timings of 800 special trains will be published soon.
An artist from Ram Sutar Art Creations climbs onto a window while working on a mural of buffaloes on a wall at Railway Colony, created as part of the ongoing ‘Paint My City’ project for the upcoming Kumbh Mela festival, in Allahabad yesterday.
