New dist created in UP for duration of Maha Kumbh

Lucknow/Prayagraj: Uttar Pradesh has created a new district for the duration of the Maha Kumbh, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world.

According to a notification, 66 villages of four tehsils - Sadar, Soraon, Phulpur and Karchana - and the entire parade area have been included in the new district which will remain till March 31, 2025. Mela Adhikari Vijay Kiran Anand, who will carry out the responsibilities of the district magistrate, said a similar exercise of creating a temporary district had been done in the past for better administration during the Kumbh fairs.

On the instructions of the government, Prayagraj District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Mandar on December 1 issued the notification for the creation of the Mahakumbh Mela district.

The Mela Adhikari will have the powers of Executive Magistrate, District Magistrate and Additional District Magistrate. There will be three Additional District Magistrates, 28 Sub-Divisional Magistrates, one Tehsildar and 24 Naib Tehsildars in the Maha Kumbh Mela district. Senior Superintendent of Police (Kumbh) Rajesh Dwivedi said that there will be 56 police stations, 155 police posts, one cyber cell police station, one Mahila police station and three water police stations in this entire district. “The district created due to Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj will cease to exist after the Maha Kumbh,” Anand told PTI, adding that the district was also created during 2019 Kumbh and “each time the same thing happens.”

The Maha Kumbh will commence on January 13 on the day of Paush Poornima and will end on MahaShivratri on February 26. Millions of pilgrims, including sadhus and seers of various Akharas, come together to be a part of this sacred practice.