Historic milestone reflects faith of sadhus, pilgrims'

A significant 10 crore devotees, one-fourth of the total expected crowd of 40 crore at the mega fair, on Thursday completed the bathing ritual in Sangam waters in 11 days since the Mahakumbh began with the first 'snan' on Paush Purnima on January 13.

- Kenneth John

MAHAKUMBH NAGAR:

Zero casualties during this period are a testimony to the 'watertight' security arrangements in place for averting any drowning incident.

There has been 24x7 vigil by NDRF personnel at all the 48 bathing ghats while manning operations continue mid river through motorboats, said DIG (NDRF) MK Sharma.

"We are ready for the biggest bathing festival of Mauni Amavasya on January 29. If required, the six-hour duty rotation will be extended to 16-hour duty, so that the bathing passes off smoothly. Preparations are in place for zero-error strategy, which does not have room for even a single casualty," he said.

So far, the NDRF has saved over a dozen people from drowning, besides over 22 devotees suffering from hypothermia after the dip in cold waters.

"We have 20 teams of 47 staff each besides five quick response teams in reserve. Of these, four are dedicated to deal with chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) disasters and 12 are dedicated for flood water rescue," said the officer.