LUCKNOW, Jan 6: Ensuring the grand organisation of the Maha Kumbh to be held in Prayagraj in 2025, the Yogi Adityanath government will add as many as 5,000 new buses to the fleet of Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) to facilitate luxurious and easy travel of lakhs of devotees.
By March 2023 the transport department will purchase about 1,575 buses. Of these, 1200 buses will also be included in the fleet. It may be noted that the Kumbh Mela has been organised grandly since 2019 in the state.
The area of the fair has also been increased by about 15 percent. Nearly 40 crore devotees are expected to participate in the event which is held after every 12 years. Managing Director UPSRTC Sanjay Kumar said as per the target set by the department regarding the purchase of buses, 1,575 buses will be purchased by March 2023.
“Out of this, 1,200 buses will join the fleet. The rest of the buses will join the fleet in April-May. After this, between April 1, 2023 and March 2024, UPSRTC will purchase 2,000 new buses,” he said.
He said between April 1, 2024 to December that is 8 months before Maha Kumbh, the remaining 1,500 buses will also be purchased. “These buses will be equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. The government will spend about Rs 2,000 crores to buy 5,000 buses,” he said. Kumar said the UPSRTC will also abandon old and dilapidated buses.
He said the department is working to replace the old and dilapidated buses with new buses having state-of-the-art facilities. Transport Minister Daya Shankar Singh said in pursuance to the directives of the Chief Minister, a plan has been made to purchase new buses before the Maha Kumbh.
“New buses are being included in the fleet in a planned manner. Around 2000 buses have been procured and soon these buses will serve the people,” he said. These new buses will be exclusively used to bring passengers from long distances to Maha Kumbh. With this, the journey of a large number of devotees coming to Maha Kumbh will be easier.
Buses will be available every 10 minutes on each route to reach here. These buses will serve to bring the passengers to Sangam city and take them back.
In 2019, over 24 crore devotees participated in the Kumbh. This time, the Kumbh Mela is going to be more grand. While Rs 4,200 crore was spent on the Maha Kumbh Mela in 2019, the government has set a budget of Rs 6,800 crore for the Kumbh Mela to be held in 2025.
At the same time, the fair is also proposed to be organised on 3700 hectares of land (UNI)07
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