If there’s one thing the BJP excels at, it’s substituting accountability with propaganda. UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s latest comment is proof of that. What was very clear from the Instagram reels and the horrifying experiences many of the devotees had was made factual by the Central Pollution Control Board’s report of the highly polluted Kumbh Mela that the UP Government organized.
This year’s Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, supposed to be a spiritual haven, has instead been marred by chaos, mismanagement, and outright deception. While crores of devotees gathered to cleanse their sins in the “purified” waters of the Ganga, what awaited them was not salvation but sewage, stampedes, and sheer incompetence.
The Holy Sewage Saga
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) confirmed what Instagram reels and common sense already screamed: the Ganga at Prayagraj’s Sangam is a fecal coliform cocktail, with levels 150 times above safe limits. Yet, CM Adityanath — channelling his inner mythological spin doctor — insists the water is so pure it’s fit for “aachman” (ritual drinking).
Fecal coliform, a bacteria found in human and animal excreta, is a clear indicator of sewage contamination. This isn’t just a scientific statistic; it’s a glaring indictment of the government’s failure to ensure the health and safety of millions of devotees.
Meanwhile, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) exposed the UP Pollution Control Board’s shameless gambit: submitting water quality reports from 12 January, a day before the Kumbh began.
The tribunal, chaired by Justice Prakash Shrivastava, minced no words in rebuking the state’s approach. “What sort of report is this? There is no information on fecal coliform in these 250 pages,” remarked the bench, emphasizing that the board’s submissions were not only inadequate but also potentially deceptive. When called out, officials scrambled to promise “fresh reports” — a classic jumla maneuver to buy time.
Even the Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth, Jagadguru Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, slammed the state’s negligence: “You forced crores to bathe in sewage. Why weren’t drains diverted? If this isn’t mismanagement, what is?”
If this wasn’t enough a doctor has now added to the concern by reporting about a patient who has developed a severe lung infection after water from the Kumbh Mela area entered through the nostrils of a woman. “I have a patient right here with a severe lung infection from water from Kumbh having entered through her nostrils while she was taking a dip. She’s not being able to breathe on her own now and has had to be ventilated and proned. Religion is important, yes, but please don’t undermine science. Be aware. Be cautious,” she wrote.
I have a patient right here with a severe lung infection from water from Kumbh having entered through her nostrils while she was taking a dip. She’s not being able to breathe on her own now and has had to be ventilated and proned. Religion is important, yes, but please don’t… https://t.co/nMcevQIvfN
— Doctor (@DipshikhaGhosh) February 18, 2025
Stampedes and Tragedy: Mismanagement Takes a Toll
It is already well known that the mismanagement of this year’s Kumbh Mela isn’t only about polluted waters. When the tragedy of the January 29 Maha Kumbh stampede was still fresh in people’s minds, another happened, this time at New Delhi Railway station on February 15 killing 15 pilgrims.
Both the Modi and Yogi governments have been aggressively promoting the 2025 Kumbh Mela. UP CM Yogi Adityanath even went on to claim that this year’s Kumbh Mela was far better managed than the one arranged in 2013.
Indian Railways, while promoting the Vande Bharat Express, forgot that crores of Indians would be visiting Prayagraj, which required thousands of ordinary trains and well-planned routes to meet the rush.
Nobody was surprised by the New Delhi Railway station stampede. Already videos were coming up from all locations on social media showing mad rush and angry pilgrims breaking open doors and windows to somehow enter the trains and go to Prayagraj. Yet, the Railway Minister and his officials seemed utterly unprepared to handle the expectations generated by their own government’s grand promises about the Kumbh Mela arrangements.
Instead of accountability, the Railway Ministry blamed victims, claiming “passenger confusion” between trains. The Supreme Court, however, wasn’t fooled: “Why were tickets sold beyond capacity?” it grilled the Solicitor General. Spoiler: Profits over pilgrims.
Similarly, the UP government was also exposed by the pilgrims who took videos of the January 29 stampede and uploaded them on social media. When the UP Police struggled to find CCTV footage of the chaos of that night, social media videos clearly showed how badly the arrangements were made to manage the crowd.
While the government claims only 30 died, many independent journalists showed that stampedes occurred in two places and the death toll is much higher. All along, the ‘double-engine’ government’s Kumbh Mela policy has been a policy of propaganda, lies, and deception.
The Shankaracharya nailed it: “You had 12 years to plan. Yet, zero arrangements.”
This Kumbh is unique: never before has it made headlines for so many deaths, lies, and toxic rivers.
The Human Cost of Negligence
The tragedy of the Maha Kumbh Mela isn’t just about polluted water or stampedes; it’s about the human cost of governance failures. Millions of pilgrims—many of them elderly and from economically weaker sections—undertake great hardships to participate in the event, trusting the state to ensure their safety. Instead, they are met with unhygienic conditions, logistical nightmares, and, in some cases, death.
Take the case of Sunita Devi, a 62-year-old pilgrim from Bihar who lost her husband in the January 29 stampede. “We came here seeking salvation, but we found only suffering,” she said, her voice breaking. Stories like hers are all too common this year, painting a grim picture of an event that should have been a celebration of faith and spirituality.
Faith Deserves Accountability, Not Deception
