660 institutions to face action for failing to set up camps in Mahakumbh mela

Religious and social institutions which first applied for land and facilities but then failed to set up their camps on the Sangam banks during the Mahakumbh-2025 could soon face action.

In the primary phase of verification undertaken by Prayagraj Mela Authority, 660 such institutions have been identified against whom the process of cancellation of their respective institution codes has been initiated by serving them notices, said officials.

This would result in these institutions not getting land and facilities for setting up camps in future editions of the fair including the annual Magh Mela, Kumbh and Mahakumbh, officials stated.

“Verification of the institutions allotted land and facilities for Mahakumbh-2205 is being undertaken after conclusion of the Mahakumbh. So far, 660 such institutions have been identified which were found to have failed to inhabit the sites by setting up camps and undertaking the works for which they had applied for,” said Vijay Kiran Anand, district magistrate (Mela Adhikari) of Mahakumbh Nagar.

Notices are being served to all of them. After giving notices, the institution codes of all will be cancelled and they will not be given land and facilities in future, he said.

Officials point out that for each edition of the fair, limited land is available for setting up of the tent city and the sites and sizes of plots as well as facilities like power and water connections etc are all allotted based on the applications received and the fact whether these institutions had been allotted the land in past editions of the fair.

If an institution applies and gets land and facilities but fails to set up the camp, it directly results in a loss for another applicant, they point out.

This time during Mahakumbh, land and facilities were allotted to around 10,000 institutions. Out of these, more than 3,500-odd were new.

As per the instructions of the state government, all the institutions were given facilities after knowing their purposes. When Mahakumbh moved towards conclusion, after Maghi Purnima bathing on February 12, the mela administration deployed its teams for verification.

So far, the first phase of verification has been completed. The address of these 660 institutions is being extracted from the institution code and preparations have started to cancel their code but after first serving show cause notices to the institution office-bearers.

Possible reason of some institutions not setting camps

This time Mahakumbh tent city was settled across 4,000 hectares. Everyone wanted land and facilities around Sangam Marg, Akhara Marg and Mahavir Marg, the heart of the fairground, but only the old institutions were given land at these places. New institutions were given space in the expanded areas. This was the big reason why many institutions did not come and set up camp fearing that the distance from Sangam nose and the heart of the tent city would fail to attract followers and visitors to their camps, claimed representative of one such institution.