To streamline the movement of devotees who will visit Prayagraj to attend the Kumbh Mela beginning Jan 13, the Mela police have chalked out an elaborate traffic management blueprint to regulate vehicular movement on both normal and ‘snan’ days.
Besides implementing a ‘No Vehicle Zone’ for 3-4 days, the main ‘snan’ day and a day preceding and succeeding it, the Mela police have set up a total of 102 parking lots. These include 20 satellite parking lots, covering an area of around 1,900 hectares and accommodating over 5 lakh vehicles for the convenience of devotees.

The govt has constituted a 24-member traffic advisory committee under ADG (Prayagraj zone) Bhanu Bhaskar to draft a plan for traffic control and management.
Read more: Maha Kumbh Mela 2025
“While drafting an elaborate traffic management plan, mela authorities have focused on the fact that devotees will be coming to all corners of the country, and they should not have to walk too much to reach the ghats. Majority of parking lots have been set up within a 5km radius of the Sangam area,” said Bhaskar, adding that around 1,400 traffic police personnel and home guards had been assigned the job to regulate the movement of devotees on streets leading to Sangam from all corners of the city.”
Satellite parking
Mela police have set up 20 satellite parking lots to manage vehicular movement and ensure convenience of devotees. These satellite parking lots will offer facilities like cloakrooms, ‘rain basera’ (night shelter), crane facility, first-aid post, police assistance booths and shops for essential commodities.

Cranes
Mela police have deployed at least 60 big and small cranes at parking lots and to clear the routes including highways connecting Prayagraj with seven neighbouring districts/states. The cranes will be depending on the size of parking lots.
Separate traffic plan for three points
The Mela traffic police have drafted a separate plan for Parade, Jhunsi, and Arail as the entire mela area has been divided into 25 sectors. The mela police have also installed 1,700 signages for the benefit of visitors, and over 500 shuttle buses will be deployed during the grand event. A total of 195 watch-cum-guidance towers have been put up in and around the mela area.

No vehicle zone
Mela police have also formulated a ‘no vehicle zone’ plan which will be applied particularly to streets leading to Sangam and routes from parking sites to Sangam, with additional police forces deployed to regulate traffic accordingly.
The three-day ‘no vehicle zone’ will be implemented on five main ‘snan’ days – Paush Purnima, Makar Sankranti, Basant Panchami, Maghi Purmina and Mahashivratri. On Mauni Amavasya, the ‘no vehicle zone’ will be implemented for four days – two days before Mauni Amavasya, on the main ‘snan’ day and after it.
Separate entry and exit routes
After dividing the entire mela area into three super zones – Parade (City), Jhunsi and Arail – the police have earmarked separate entry and exit routes for normal and main ‘snan’ days.

There will be separate entry and exit routes as well as parking lots for passengers coming by buses, trains, and private vehicles. Mela police will offer priority to pedestrians moving towards Sangam from seven different parts of the district.
There will be 84 holding areas – 45 in the city, 18 in trans-Ganga, and 21 in trans-Yamuna.
Devotees will follow Kali Sadak to move towards Sangam and return through Triveni Marg. Mela police authorities have also set up a green corridor on Naval Rai Marg. Lal Sadak would be reserved for administrative purposes. Routes for holding areas and shuttle buses have been finalised, and an emergency plan is also in place.

Traffic plan on pontoon bridges
Mela police authorities have also drafted a traffic movement plan on 28 pontoon bridges. Out of these, 23 will connect Parade (City) and Jhunsi, while five pontoon bridges will connect Arail and Jhunsi.
The Mela police authorities have focused on interstate/inter-district coordination for vehicular movement along with GRP, railways, roadways and district police to regulate flow of devotees to avoid chaotic situations.
Buses to ferry devotees to Kumbh
UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) plans to keep at least 7,000 buses ready for Kumbh Mela. Buses operating for Maha Kumbh will be colour-coded in saffron for clarity to passengers. These buses will operate from different regions only for Maha Kumbh.

Considering that the state govt wants it to also be an environment-friendly event, only buses with improved emission norms like BSVI and BSIV will ply for Maha Kumbh from all 20 regions of the corporation.
Despite being diesel-operated, these general category buses have better emissions. “Not all 7,000 buses may be needed, but that’s the dedicated fleet UPSRTC will keep ready,” an official said.
In addition to these 7,000 buses, UPSRTC will also operate at least 100 electric buses in the mela area. They may also get the same colour. Each of the buses will also be equipped with safety features like vehicle location tracking device (VLTD), panic buttons and fog-safety equipment.
Coloured e-rickshaw for transportation
Coloured e-rickshaws will be deployed in Jhunsi (blue), Naini (yellow), Phaphamau (green), Dhoomanganj (red), city areas (white), and Mela area (orange) for public transportation.