ALLAHABAD: Over two crore devotees and pilgrims led by ash smeared Naga seers took the ritualistic dip in the icy cold waters of Sangam – the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythological Saraswati – on Tuesday, heralding the start of 49-day Kumbh Mela Mela authorities claimed that over 10 crore pilgrims would be taking the holy dip during the next 48 days at Kumbh.A huge mass of curious onlookers and devotees lined both sides of the Akhara corridor as thousands of sadhus associated with the 13 akharas (Hindu monastic order), including a grand procession of the mystic Naga sadhus, ran towards the Sangam brandishing their traditional weapons for the first ‘shahi snan’ of Kumbh on the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti Members of Kinnar Akhara, who took their first ever ritualistic dip in the Ganga at Kumbh along with members of Juna Akhara, were the main attraction for devotees as well as hundreds of foreigners, who patiently waited for their rituals to end.Hundreds of security personnel were seen issuing orders and running from one sector to another to ensure the safety of devotees taking holy dip at the 35 ghats.Police also checked devotees from infiltrating into Akhara corridor for easy passage to Sangam and avoided any clash with the sadhus.However, a stampede was averted by a group of alert policemen who stopped a crowd of devotees making an attempt to enter the Akhara enclosure by breaking the double barricading.Security personnel, including paramilitary forces, stopped the devotees from entering the reserve enclosure and also saved lives of four women, who fell on ground in the rush. The policemen evacuated the reserved enclosure and repaired the broken barricading promptly to prevent the crowd from entering the enclosure.Mela officer, Kumbh, Prayagraj, Vijay Kiran Anand said, “Over 1.16 crore devotees took the holy dip at Sangam by 4pm amid heavy security arrangements.”Speaking to TOI, DIG (Kumbh) K P Singh said the biggest challenge was to control the surging crowds. “No major untoward incident, barring a few tense moments at some entry and exit points, were witnessed,” he added.Organisers have set up over one lakh toilets, a central hospital along with 11 sector hospitals, 22 pontoon bridges, 95 parking lots on mela campus. Similarly, 137 watch towers, 20 hi-tech lost and found camps and over 1,170 signages have also being put up.UPSRTC had deployed 500 shuttle buses to ferry people from the city and other places.SP (Sangam) Purnendu Singh said, “Devotees started taking holy dip since Monday midnight. The rush continued till Tuesday evening.”In the afternoon, Mela authorities roped in helicopters to shower flower petals on devotees at the ground.

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