Maha Kumbh: Massive 300-km traffic jam leaves lakhs of pilgrims stranded

A sea of vehicles stretching up to 300 kilometres turned the roads leading to the Maha Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradeshs Prayagraj into a massive parking lot leaving lakhs of devotees stranded for hours unable to reach the worlds largest religious gathering The unprecedented congestion forced many to remain stuck in their vehicles some even hundreds of kilometres away from the fair site on Sunday and MondayA day earlier heavy traffic heading toward Prayagraj had already led to police stopping hundreds of vehicles in different areas of Madhya Pradesh to prevent overcrowdingThe extreme bottleneck which social media users dubbed the worlds biggest traffic jam reportedly extended across 200 to 300 kilometres affecting pilgrims travelling through Madhya PradeshThe situation prompted the state police to halt traffic across multiple districts leaving travellers stuck for long hours on highwaysTaking a swipe at the Uttar Pradesh government Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav blasted the administrations handling of the event urging authorities to address the plight of stranded devoteesThe hungry thirsty distressed and exhausted pilgrims stuck in traffic jams should be looked at with a humane perspective Are common devotees not human beings Yadav asked in a post on XThe former Chief Minister also demanded that vehicles be made tollfree across Uttar Pradesh during the Maha Kumbh to ease congestion and ensure a smoother journey for devoteesOn the occasion of Maha Kumbh vehicles should be made tollfree in UP This will reduce travel problems and also the issue of traffic jams When films can be made entertainment taxfree then why not exempt vehicles from tolls for this religious event he wroteHe further highlighted specific trouble spots mentioning major jams at Nawabganj 30 km before entering Prayagraj from the Lucknow side a bottleneck at Gauhania 16 km before Rewa Road and a traffic snarl extending 1215 km towards VaranasiHe also cited reports of overcrowding in trains with passengers even squeezing into engines to reach their destination Normal life has become difficult he addedMeanwhile authorities in Madhya Pradesh responded by halting vehicular movement in multiple districts In Katni police announced through loudspeakers that traffic had been stopped until Monday In Maihar officers advised vehicles to turn back toward Katni and Jabalpur to find temporary shelterSeveral videos circulating on social media captured the extent of the congestion with endless lines of cars and trucks clogging roads across the Katni Jabalpur Maihar and Rewa districts Eyewitnesses reported that the traffic jam spanned nearly 250 kilometres from Katni to the MPUP border at Chakghat in Rewa districtAs the crisis unfolded Madhya Pradesh BJP president VD Sharma urged party workers to assist stranded pilgrims in their respective regions All workers are requested to help the devotees heading to Maha Kumbh in every possible way Arrange food and shelter if needed Ensure that no devotee faces inconvenience Let us play our role in this Maha Yagya he posted on XFrustrated devotees have also voiced their grievances over the mismanagement of the traffic situation Pilgrims from Faridabad reported that what should have been a routine journey took them over 24 hours to reach Prayagraj A family from Jaipur shared their frustration saying they were stuck for hours just to cover a mere fourkilometre stretchWith the Maha Kumbh continuing until February 26 authorities face mounting pressure to resolve the traffic chaos and ensure smoother movement for the remaining weeks of the grand religious gatheringThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever