AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Since January 13, millions of pilgrims have gathered at a Hindu festival called Kumbh Mela. The event runs for six weeks, and nearly half a billion people are expected this year. But last week, at least 30 people died in a tragic stampede. Devina Gupta sends us this report from Delhi.
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DEVINA GUPTA: The Hindu village's festival, Kumbh Mela, takes place every 12 years when Jupiter aligns with the sun and the moon. And people here believe that during this period, taking a dip in the spot where three sacred rivers - the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Sarasvati - meet washes away their sins.
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GUPTA: But as millions of pilgrims make their way to the host city Prayagraj in northern India, managing this massive crowd has been a challenge. For this year, the local government deployed 50,000 security officers. They even use drones to patrol the area.
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GUPTA: But still a deadly stampede last week took at least 30 lives and injured 60 others. Puneet Sikka is a documentary filmmaker. She was at the location moments before it all happened. She describes to NPR what she saw.
PUNEET SIKKA: People were also not complying. Even when the barricades were put, they were - the crowd was constantly pushing.
GUPTA: The local government is now investigating the tragedy, and many pilgrims are blaming a protocol that prioritizes privileged guests. Premanand Puri is a religious leader, who's a regular participant at Kumbh Mela.
PREMANAND PURI: (Through interpreter) The government has failed here. When they knew that nearly 500 million people were going to be here, why didn't they let the army manage this event? They only wanted to cater to the VIPs.
GUPTA: He's referring to the practice where authorities block key routes for the cars of politicians and businessmen, making it harder for foot-bound pilgrims to move freely. Vishal Tewari is a lawyer, who, after the stampede, filed a petition in India's top court to abandon such VIP protocols at Kumbh Mela.
VISHAL TEWARI: Due to the VIP movement, the crowd was squeezed to a very narrow area. So VIP movement shall not be permitted, and maximum space shall be given to the entire devotees who are coming there.
GUPTA: Under pressure, the local government has, for now, revoked these special perks like allowing VIP cars in the festival area. But this alone is not enough, says Vikram Singh, a retired police officer who's organized such events in the past. He says security officers need to ensure the crowd keeps moving.
VIKRAM SINGH: Multiple pilgrims were reported to take multiple dips at the cost of management and at the cost of other pilgrims. I think there should be an element of firmness to move the pilgrims to take a bath and move away.
GUPTA: In addition to this, lawyer Tewari says that the security instructions need to be multilingual for people coming from different parts of the country.
TEWARI: The announcements, display boards - they are mostly done in Hindi. So for example, if some - any important announcement is there, then person from south India may not understand it.
GUPTA: For now, things have calmed down at the Kumbh Mela. The authorities are more vigilant, says the documentary filmmaker Sikka, who's still there. She hopes things will remain this way until later in February when the festival finally ends. For NPR News, I'm Devina Gupta in Delhi.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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