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No one will get lost at Kumbh anymore [Lucknow] [Times of India](Times of India Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) LUCKNOW: Siblings separated in the "Kumbh ka mela" may no longer serve as Bollywood's most tried-and-tested story line. With state-of-the-art technology being put in place to keep an eye on every person entering and exiting the mela area, getting lost in Maha Kumbh 2013 could, in fact, pose a giant challenge. For starters, the mela administration has turned the process of allotting living quarters for all seven akharas--sects created by Adi Sankaracharya to strengthen the Hindu religion and unite those practicing different rituals, customs and beliefs--online. Starting this Maha Kumbh, devotees and visitors can not only look for the precise location of the akaharas they wish to visit, but they can also map their guru's every movement as they mingle with the crowds in the mela. Small wonder even sadhus are pulling out iPads to perform split-second searches on Google Maps for the precise location of their preferred akharas. "In previous Kumbh melas, the only technology used was CCTV cameras on watch towers, for surveillance purposes and some wireless handsets. This year, we have broken new ground with advanced technology like GPS mapping, Wimax and specially-built software to ascertain the number of people who come to participate," said OP Srivastava, manager, Kumbh Mela. For putting together fresh, geospatial technology-assisted data that will help local administration organise more such mega events, even paper-pushing bureaucrats have had to turn a new leaf. With social networking the new buzz word, instant messaging application WhatsApp has been chosen as the favoured medium of information exchange between UP's department of information and local scribes. "Latest information, video, photographs and all mela-related updates will now be available, around the clock, through this medium,'' said Ashok Sharma, deputy director, department of information. With over 10 crore persons expected to visit the mela grounds between January 14 and March 10, 2013, crowd control poses the greatest challenge for the mela administration. This time, though, the administration is better prepared. "At Sangam -- where people bathe -- only 10 lakh people can converge at a time. This time, to keep tabs on the crowds, we roped in the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad to develop a software that can gauge the number of people entering the mela area. Installed at the entrance of each of the 18 pontoon bridges, these software-enabled cameras will alert us about the numbers of people entering the mela area,'' said Ram Kumar Shukla, assistant manager, Kumbh Mela. For tech-savvy visitors, though, there's also a word of caution. At present, the mela area has only been fitted with telephone and wireless network towers by government-run BSNL. With less than a month to go before the mela kick-starts, officials say all other networks will be defunct. "We strongly advise people to get GPRS-enabled CDMA handsets to stay connected. Since other private telecom players have not, as yet, sought permission to set up mobile towers in the mela area, no other network will work," Shukla added. Promising visitors a glitch-free mela, a team of about 50 officials are working around the clock in Allahabad and Lucknow to make the event a grand success. A 24-hour control room that integrates information from radio, video, web and phone services has been set up. In addition, all lost and found centres will be equipped with webcam facilities where photos of lost people will be telecast on screens set up across the mela area. The administration has also set up dedicated file transfer protocol servers that will upload live feed of the Kumbh Mela, satellite uplinking facilities and a round-the-clock media centre for foreign and local journalists. (c) 2012 Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited |