Varanasi witnesses 10 million pilgrims and no major incidents during Sravan

Varanasi: The holy month of Sravan that ended in parts of the country on Saturday witnessed around 10 million pilgrims visiting Varanasi, where the local administration and the police had made elaborate arrangements that helped them manage the crowds without any major incidents.

“Around 150,000-200,000 pilgrims visited Varanasi every day (six days a week). On four Sravan Mondays, 600,000-700,000 devotees visited, and taking together Nag Panchami, the total number was almost a crore (10 million) in the last one month,” Varanasi police commissioner Mohit Agarwal told ET.

The police and the local administration had enhanced the city’s drone surveillance and CCTV monitoring, implemented special crowd management systems, and set up more medical assistance and police booths during the period to manage the influx of pilgrims to the holy city, which is also the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The number of pilgrims who visited Varanasi during the Sravan month last year was marginally lower compared with this year. However, during the Maha Kumbh, around 100 million people a month visited in January and February this year, which was a big challenge to handle, Agarwal said. The learnings from the time helped make arrangements during the Sravan month this time, he said.

Police personnel were given special behavioural training to handle pilgrims with empathy, care and respect, Agarwal said.

The entire area near the Kashi Vishwanath Temple was turned to a no-vehicle zone for the first time and parking facilities have been earmarked outside the city periphery for big buses and vehicles, he added.

“A control room was set up which was monitored by the commissioner of police, district magistrate divisional commissioner from the night ahead of Sravan Mondays, as the devotees started to assemble in large numbers and crowd flow was monitored,” Agarwal said.

Two lanes of the four-lane highway from Prayagraj to Varanasi were dedicated for ‘kanwaris’ as they travelled to Varanasi. Kanwar Yatra, undertaken by devotees of Lord Shiva, or ‘kanwaris’, is one of the most prominent religious activities during the Sravan month.

On the last Monday of the month of Sravan, devotees gathered in large numbers in Varanasi’s Kashi Vishwanath Temple. With water levels of the Ganga increasing above the danger level and most of the ghats getting submerged in the past few days, authorities had to make special arrangements this year, including to barricade the ghat, the police commissioner said.