In Varanasi, CM draws crowd control lessons for Simhasta

Bhopal: Chief minister Mohan Yadav toured the Kashi Vishwanath temple corridor on a visit to Varanasi on Tuesday, saying the lessons drawn from the crowd management experience at the shrine complex would help him plan for Simhasta 2028.Speaking to reporters, the CM said one of the key objectives of his visit is the signing of an MoU to boost administrative arrangements with an eye on the mega pilgrimage event while facilitating the exchange of information between the shrines of Baba Vishwanath in Varanasi and Baba Mahakal in Ujjain. MoUs were signed between the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust and Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple Trust and between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to promote cooperation in the field of One District One Product (ODOP) products.The main objective of this initiative, the CM said, was to provide smoother and improved facilities and services for devotees. He described his experiences of Varanasi as highly relevant for Simhastha–2028, which is to be hosted in his native Ujjain. He held a meeting with the trustees of the Kashi Vishwanath temple trust and reviewed a presentation on pilgrim management at the corridor, including crowd management, darshan arrangements and the mobile app-based token system. He said the crowd control and management steps at the Kashi Vishwanath corridor and the Mahakumbh, earlier, would serve as lessons while drawing up long-term plans for devotees in Ujjain.Yadav also reviewed the standard operating procedures for managing pilgrimage sites during a presentation. Discussions were held on real-time CCTV monitoring, zone-based crowd control, security protocols and modern sanitation management systems.He equated Varanasi and Ujjain as iconic landmarks of great religious and cultural significance.Yadav also inaugurated MP–UP Sahayog Sammelan in Varanasi, an event aimed at providing a common platform for the industrial strengths, traditional crafts, ODOP and GI-tagged products, agricultural and food products, investment opportunities and tourism potential of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.