Kumbh Mela 2025: How AI-driven command centre keep vigil to avoid stampedes

Four hundred million are expected this year to visit the Maha Kumbh mela at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, the world's largest spiritual gathering.

The mela comprises a sprawling temporary city spread over 10,000 acres, with more than a crore pilgrims and seers who have set up camp there. Moreover, the venue sees 20 lakh visitors flocking into this space daily. This mega-religious event, organised every 12 years, is being held from January 13 and will continue for 45 days.

More than seven crore pilgrims have so far taken a holy dip at the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.

Also read: Kumbh Mela 2025: Pilgrims still get lost but they are also easily found

The fear of stampedes

But the shadow of deadly stampedes, which happened at this religious festival, continue to haunt the authorities.

According to a 2013 study, published in the ‘International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction’, 79 per cent of stampedes in India occur during religious gatherings and pilgrimages. The most recent one being in July 2024, when 116 people died in a self-styled godman Bhole Baba's ‘Satsang’ in Hathras Uttar Pradesh.

So, what triggers a stampede, which is often described as a “sudden or unreasoning rush or flight of persons in a body or mass". Stampedes typically happen due to rumours, some imaginary threats, poor crowd management, or overcrowded conditions, and can lead to serious injuries or fatalities due to trampling or suffocation.

The Kumbh Mela has witnessed deadly stampedes earlier in 1840, 1906, 1954, and 2013.

Previous stampedes at Kumbh Mela

The stampede of 1954—the first Kumbh Mela after India’s independence in 1947, was especially tragic. That year, there were a series of accidents, pilgrims had drowned, hundreds of huts caught fire and water-and-fire brigades failed to douse them and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had come to bathe, increasing the crowds who flocked to see him, before the actual stampede.

On February 3, 1954, crowd control efforts fell apart, as people continued to jam together toward the sangam.

In the extreme pressure, people began to fall over one another, and disaster followed. More than 400 people died in that stampede.

Again on 10 February 2013, a stampede at a railway station in Allahabad, killed 36 passengers and injured many more. The victims were pilgrims returning from the Kumbh Mela.

Crowd management authorities play a major role in preventing such incidents.

Also read: Maha Kumbh Mela begins, nearly 60 lakh people take holy dip at Sangam

Continuous monitoring

Ever vigilant after these tragedies, in 2025, an Integrated Control Command Centre has been established at the Mahakumbh Nagar, which keeps a hawk's eye round-the-clock to ensure smooth crowd management through continuous monitoring.

More than 400 people stationed at each of the four Integrated Control Command Centres (ICCC) keep a 24/7 vigil on big screens displaying live footage and data from hotspots to alert the personnel on crowd density and pilgrim flow.

The source of the visuals are more than 3,000 cameras, underwater drones and a battery of over 60,000 personnel on the ground.

AI to the rescue

The surveillance is done from three angles - security, crowd management and crime prevention.

According to Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre and the ICCC in-charge, the data being captured is accurate to ensure there are no more "guesstimates".

"This is the first time in the world that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used for crowd management at this scale. We have installed more than 3,000 cameras across the mela area and the city, of which 1,800 are AI-enabled. There is absolute no guess work, everything is based on real-time data being captured extensively," Kumar told PTI.

Alerts and 13 contingency schemes

"Whenever the crowd density at a particular place rises above the marked threshhold, an alert pops up on the screens and the information is communicated to the wireless grids. Teams on the ground swing into action at this point and diversions are made accordingly. There are 13 contingency schemes defined in the SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) with a different modus operandi for each scheme," he explained.

"An alert pops up each time there is a barricade breach or traffic convergence from all directions leads to congestion or even if there is a fire," he added.

10-hour shifts

A cop deployed as an observer in the command centre told PTI that they undertook 10-hour shifts each to continuously monitor the live feed pouring in while a dedicated call centre attended to complaints and intimations from the pilgrims.

"The call centre has been integrated with the police helpline, women helpline, fire and ambulance services," he said.

Four ICCCs are operational in the Maha Kumbh, the head office and in the city and two in the Jhunsi and the Arail areas. More than 60,000 police personnel and 56 police stations are in place to ensure safety.

Additionally, 30 pontoon bridges and grand entry and exit gates are also under the scanner of cameras, besides the ghats and other areas in the mela ground.

17 entry points

Moreover, Mahakumbh Nagar additional district magistrate Vivek Chaturvedi shared that the administration maintained regular touch with the Railways and the roadways to corroborate pilgrim influx data.

"There are 17 entry points to the mela, so there is continuous monitoring of influx there and at the exit points. The idea is not just to get an accurate headcount but also use data analytics to be able to predict congestion and activate a contingency plan," he told PTI.

"According to government estimates, more than 45 crore people would attend the Maha Kumbh this time. Hence, crowd management is a big challenge but AI is helping us leverage technology to ensure a smooth experience," he added.

In fact, the UP government is so proud of their efforts that they have written to the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy to send officers to the Maha Kumbh "to study crowd management and other varied aspects".

(With inputs from agencies)