No rooms in Prayagraj hotels even as mega event nears end

No rooms in Prayagraj hotels even as mega event nears end

Kapil.Dixit@timesofindia.com 15.02.2025

Prayagraj : Even after completion of five major snans, including three amrit snans of Makar Sankranti, Mauni Amavasya and Basant Panchami at the ongoing Maha Kumbh there seems to be no space available for occupants in hotels. The coinciding of the ongoing Maha Kumbh and wedding season has puzzled the occupants who are running from pillar to post to get hotel rooms booked. Apart from pre-booking for the Maha Kumbh and wedding season, the majority of hotel room seekers are trying to get space within the city limits, assuming that traffic jams or other problems could play spoilsport in their celebrations if they book hotels in trans-Ganga and trans-Yamunabased hotels or marriage pandals. There are some families who have postponed marriage or other marriage related events till next month. 

For instance, one Sanjay Kumar is taking rounds of hotels to get rooms booked for his son’s marriage. Apart from the availability, the tariffs of hotels, including luxury or budget, guest houses, and paying guest facilities are also giving sleepless nights to seekers. Currently, the tariffs of rooms in hotels located in posh Civil Lines, SP Marg, MG Marg, or the railway station, are quite high since the commencement of the Maha Kumbh, and the majority of rooms in all luxury and budget hotels are booked in advance. 

On Friday, one Rahul and his family from Lucknow were searching for a hotel room with basic amenities and security in all of the city for Feb 22 as they planned to revisit the Maha Kumbh. After an online and offline search, the family found that the rooms were priced high until March 11. He said, “We are looking for affordable rooms as many of our relatives and friends have planned to visit Kumbh. We found the majority of hotel rooms booked in advance and fewer chances of getting affordable rooms.”

Direct flights from Prayagraj to many cities PRAYAGRAJ, 2025MAHA KUMBH

Direct flights from Prayagraj to many cities PRAYAGRAJ, 2025MAHA KUMBH

 Rajeev.Mani@timesofindia.com  03.12.2024

 Prayagraj : In view of Maha Kumbh, direct flights will start soon from Prayagraj to Jabalpur, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kolkata, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, and Dehradun. Flight services for these cities will be operated by the aviation company Alliance Air. Alliance Air has sent its proposal to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). After getting approval from the DGCA, direct flights for these cities will start. 

Prayagraj Airport administration has already given permission to operate these flights. After this, the final proposal was sent to the DGCA through a letter. Permission is also expected from the DGCA soon. It is being said that some of these aircraft will fly from the respective cities and leave for Prayagraj and then for Delhi. Among these, the Prayagraj

Kolkata flight will be available three days a week, and for the rest of the cities, the flight will be available only one day a week. At present, there are direct flights from Prayagraj to Delhi, Mumbai, Bhubaneswar, Raipur, Lucknow, Hyderabad, and Bangalore.

Maha Kumbh ’25 takes leap in scale More Utilities, Ghats, Shuttle On The Cards

Maha Kumbh ’25 takes leap in scale More Utilities, Ghats, Shuttle On The Cards

Shailvee.Sharda@timesofindia.com 02.12.2024

Lucknow : Mahakumbh 2025 is going to be bigger and even better than the Kumbh of 2019, suggests comparative data from various departments of UP govt. The area over which the Mela ground has come up is a sprawling 4,000 hectares, an increase of 20% compared to 2019. This area would be segregated into 25 sectors. Similarly, the size of the tent city this time is twice it was in 2019 and would have 1.6 lakh tents. Given the larger area, the number of pucca ghats has been increased from four to is nine. Likewise, number of pontoon bridges this time is 30 against 22 in 2019.

Besides, 400 kms of temporary roads are being built, an increase of 35%. The entire area would be illuminated with a network of streetlights, increased in number from 40,000 to 67,000. To ensure uninterrupted supply of power, Uttar Pra desh Power Corporation Limited has set up two power substations and 66 new transformers. For adequate and uninterrupted water supply to pilgrims on the mela premises, UP Jal Nigam has built 1,249 kms of pipelines to feed over 200 water ATMs and 85 water booths, an increase from the earlier 1,049 kms pipleline and 10 water ATM booths.

To attend to hygiene and sewage needs, 1.5 lakh toilets are being built in the mela ground this time and 10,000 safai workers would be engaged to keep the toilets clean. Govt has gone the extra mile to create a green Kumbh by planting over 3 lakh saplings ahead of the event. In 2019, much of the greenery was created using potted plants. The area for street art and wall murals has also been increased from 17 lakh square feet to 18 lakh square feet this time. Officials said over 550 shuttle buses and 7,000 roadways buses would be plied for the convenience of pilgrims and number of bus stations has increased from five last time to seven. Advisor to CM Yogi Adityanath and former IAS officer, Awanish Awasthi, said: “The resolve of state govt is to ensure pilgrim experience, safety and convenience and the resolve is being implemented in letter and spirit.”Labourers constructing replicas of 12 Jyotirlinga temples on the banks of the Yamuna for the upcoming Maha Kumbh Mela 2025, in Prayagraj