First bathing day of Ardh Kumbh registers lower than expected turnout

HARIDWAR: The first bathing day of Ardh Kumbh on Thursday recorded a lower than expected footfall, with around nine lakh devotees taking a holy dip in the Ganga, against the expected number of up to 12 lakh. Absence of devotees from Punjab and Rajasthan, and akharas of sadhus preferring to go to Ujjain for the Mahakumbh were among the reasons cited for the low footfall.IG Ardh Kumbh Ganesh Singh Martolia told TOI that over nine lakh devotees took a dip in Ganga on Makar Sankranti. “The number was over 7 lakh at various ghats of Haridwar and 2 lakh devotees went to ghats in and around Rishikesh,” said the senior police official.
Udyog vyapar mandal national secretary Kailash Keshwani said that the low turnout could mean that the mega festival may fall short of generating the expected revenue.
Claiming that few pilgrims were staying at the city's hotels or dharmashalas, Vidya Shankar Rai, manager of Narsingh Dham dharmashala, said that almost all people taking a dip in the Ganga were "locals or from areas around Haridwar."
According to Ardh Kumbh mela in-charge (roadways) Yajuwendra Kumar, the average number of passengers in the 527 buses introduced for the Makar Sankranti was around 20. "Even buses coming from Delhi carried few passengers,” he added.
Kaushal Sikhaula, a teerth purohit, said that pilgrims from Punjab and Rajasthan, who come in large numbers in such festivals, failed to turn up this time.
According to a policeman on duty near general post office Haridwar on the Har-ki-Pauri main route, rows of pilgrims started moving towards the key bathing ghat at about 8 am. Those returning around three hours later estimated the crowd to be between 15,000 and 20,000 in the morning.
While some attributed the low influx of devotees to Makar Sankranti snan being extended over two days (January 14 and 15), others attributed it primarily to akharas going to Ujjain for the Mahakumbh which starts in April.
“A larger number was expected to visit the holy city on the snan due to it being an Ardh Kumbh year. Otherwise, the number of pilgrims on Makar Sankranti is never more than a few lakhs," an old priest in the city said.
Priests and astrologers in the city differed on the period considered auspicious for the Makar Sankranti bathing. According to some, the period started at 5 pm on January 14. Others were of the opinion that the period starts from midnight of January 14 and stretches to January 15 midday. This resulted in both January 14 and 15 being accepted as bathing days.
Meanwhile, police teams kept a strict vigil in the entire Kumbh area, including the ghats, which helped avoid any untoward incidents. Cops were successful in saving a 17-year girl from drowning. Delhi resident Aatma Ram along with his family had come to Haridwar to take a dip in the Ganga. His daughter got carried way in the strong current of the river at Malviyadeep ghat. When the family members shouted for help, constable Atul Singh and divers Sunny and Gaurav jumped into the river and saved the teenager from drowning. IG Ardh Kumbh G S Martolia has announced a cash reward for all the three.
Local residents and pilgrims incidentally seemed to be happy with the traffic and security arrangements made by the mela administration, adding that it did not cause them any inconvenience.
"The security arrangements are better than those I found at a Mahakumbh earlier," a pilgrim told TOI at Subhash Ghat.
Half a dozen others, including Raj from Dhangerki, Nepal, and Upendra Sah from Bihar echoed the view. Suresh Bhatia, a BJP worker, described the mela arrangements and the decorations as "excellent."
Aniruddh Bhati, a social activist, however said that the police decision to strictly introduce traffic restrictions on city main roads was "unnecessary as there was not much traffic."
(Inputs by Kautilya Singh)