Overview
- Day one began with the Paush Purnima bath at the Triveni Sangam, with authorities expecting 20–30 lakh devotees by evening.
- Officials project a total footfall of roughly 12–15 crore over the 44–45 day congregation, the first Magh Mela after last year’s Mahakumbh.
- A 10-tier security plan covers the mela area with thousands of police and home guards, NDRF and RAF teams, PAC companies, watchtowers, control rooms, divers and AI-enabled CCTV monitoring.
- To protect Ganga water quality, about 350 industrial units in Kanpur, including 288 tanneries, are shut for wet operations from December 31 to February 15.
- Infrastructure and services have been scaled up with ghats extended to nearly 10,000 feet, nine pontoon bridges, a Mela Seva App with QR-code grievance intake, bike taxis, helicopter and paragliding options, and a new Prayagwal Nagar residential zone for Kalpvasis.