Mumbai: Bollywood script writers may have to seek elsewhere for stories on separated twins.
Kumbh Mela held in Nashik in Maharashtra state made history when local authorities reunited with family or friends every single person who had gone missing at what is considered the largest religious fair in the world.
Bollywood films from the 1960s and 1970s had used Kumbh Mela for stories revolving around missing kids or separated twins.
The administration used modern technology such as CCTV cameras, public announcement (PA) systems and mobile apps, besides deploying 24,000 policemen across Nashik and Trimbakeshwar to ensure minimum chaos.
Assisting them were 160 volunteers, who made announcements for missing persons in 16 languages to ensure that no matter where they hailed from, their families would understand the message.
The Nasik Kumbh Mela, which began July 14, will conclude on Saturday, September 25.
This year 1,553 people went missing at Nashik and 855 in Trimbakeshwar, 28 km southwest. The concerted efforts of the authorities helped reunite all of them with their families.
NGOs such as Bharat Bharati started a control room to monitor the crowds and keep an eye out for missing persons. Since the first Shahi Snan (holy bath) on August 26, the NGO received 4,000 calls on their helpline, thanks to the wide publicity it had received through Nashik Police’s posters and banners.
The same NGO posted 160 volunteers versed in 16 different languages, making it easy for the police to communicate with pilgrims who come from all over the country.
“Most of the people that had come were from the north or south, or from Gujarat, but the police only knew two languages – Hindi and Marathi,” said Pradeep Peskar, a member of Bharat Bharati.
If somebody went missing, announcements were made along the whole route in the language the person could understand. This helped trace many people.
They also used an app called GGTalk that helped the volunteers to share pictures of the missing persons among themselves. “We managed to locate two people that way,” Peskar said.
Some of our apps also helped the police to monitor the actual number of people visiting the temples.
We managed to calculate the numbers by monitoring cell phone pings on mobile towers. At the temples, we also put an electronic pad near the stairs to count the footfall,” said Sandeep Shinde, CEO at MIT Kumbathon, an annual gathering that comes up with innovations to help Kumbh Mela organizers.
At Kumbh Mela Hindus gather to bathe in a sacred river. It is considered the largest peaceful gathering in the world. Around 100 million people claimed to have visited Kumbh Mela at Allahabad in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in 2013.
The fair is held every third year at one of the four places by rotation: Haridwar, Allahabad, Nashik and Ujjain. Thus the Kumbh Mela is held at each of these four places every twelfth year.
Nasik Kumbh Mela is celebrated when Jupiter and the sun falls on the zodiac sign, Leo.
The legend behind the gathering says gods and demons fought over the nectar that emerged from the churning of milky ocean. Lord Vishnu then flew away with the pot of nectar spilling drops at four different places where the Kumbh Mela is being held.
Kumbha means a pitcher and Mela means fair in Sanskrit.