At Kumbh, the task of finding 1,000 lost pilgrims a day

  • | Saturday | 16th February, 2019

ALLAHABAD: Sitting in a corner of the ‘Bhoole Bhatke Shivir’, 72-year-old Vindhyawati’s eyes scan the entrance to the tent every few minutes. The people who man the Bhoole Bhatke Shivir now have technology to help them re-unite families.A pilgrim was kind enough to bring Vindhyawati to the tent. Later during the day, a police team accompanied Vindhyawati to Satna.Camps like Bhoole Bhatke Shivir are run using carefully-maintained manual records, but computerization is also helping. In the 2007 Ardh Kumbh, over 23,000 people were similarly reunited.Organiser of Bhoole Bhatke Shivir, Umesh Tiwari said, “Once inside our camps, volunteers offer lost pilgrims food and blankets.It could take days to find their families.” By then, 14 crore pilgrims had taken part in the holy dip at the Ganga from the day the Mela began on January 15.

ALLAHABAD: Sitting in a corner of the ‘Bhoole Bhatke Shivir’, 72-year-old Vindhyawati’s eyes scan the entrance to the tent every few minutes. The resident of Satna in Madhya Pradesh had been looking forward to her pilgrimage to the Kumbh Mela for years, but on that day, February 8, she was separated from her family among the millions assembled on the Ganga’s banks for the largest such gathering in the world.‘Separated and lost at the Kumbh Mela’ is a recurring, much-referenced and even fond trope of Indian popular culture, including Hindi movies, which in the 1970s used to have entire plots revolving around it. But for pilgrims who actually get lost in the thronging crowds, ranging from the very young to the old and infirm, it is a traumatic experience. The people who man the Bhoole Bhatke Shivir now have technology to help them re-unite families.A pilgrim was kind enough to bring Vindhyawati to the tent. In a state of shock, the old woman had hardly spoken to anyone at the camp as she kept looking for her kin for two whole days, worried that she might never see them again.On Sunday that she heaved a sigh of relief when she saw her family members’ faces on a smartphone screen via a video call after a volunteer traced their contact number. Later during the day, a police team accompanied Vindhyawati to Satna.Camps like Bhoole Bhatke Shivir are run using carefully-maintained manual records, but computerization is also helping. At computerized centres, volunteers keep updating details of lost people, which are then displayed prominently on screens across.The task is massive: by February 10, the day of the third and last Shahi Snan of Kumbh 2019, volunteers managed to reunite over 24,000 people with their families, according to senior superintendent of police (Kumbh) KP Singh. By then, 14 crore pilgrims had taken part in the holy dip at the Ganga from the day the Mela began on January 15. Which means on any average day, more than 1,000 pilgrims go missing or are separated from their groups.“We have set up 15 special police teams to take lost persons back to their native states if their fellow pilgrims have already left. This time, we sent 72 people back home. We traced their families after compiling information through various means including biometric details,” SSP Singh said.Computerized lost-and-found camps was first introduced during the 2013 Mahakumbh, while the traditional camps have been operational since 1946.In the 2013 Mahakumbh alone over 42,000 lost people were reunited with their families, while the Mela saw 16 crore pilgrims participating. In the 2007 Ardh Kumbh, over 23,000 people were similarly reunited.Organiser of Bhoole Bhatke Shivir, Umesh Tiwari said, “Once inside our camps, volunteers offer lost pilgrims food and blankets.It could take days to find their families.”

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