Straw burning at Sangam raises pollution alarm in Prayagraj

After the end of Mahakumbh-2025, the Prayagraj Mela Authority (PMA) is going all out to restore the mela grounds to their original state within seven to ten days before Holi, a deadline set by the mela authority itself.

PMA officials informed that the completion of the cleaning exercise within a week or 10 days before Holi was a must, as the authority had to submit a comprehensive waste disposal report within 15 days of the mela’s conclusion to the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

As per PMA officials, a contract existed between PMA and NGT, entered into before the fair, stating that the authority would submit a waste disposal report to NGT to confirm that the entire mela grounds had been cleared of waste generated during the 45-day-long Mahakumbh, in accordance with specified parameters of waste disposal.

However, in the process of completing the disposal, several quintals of straw, laid on the ground at bathing ghats as well as in different sectors of the mela for Kalpwasis and devotees, are now being openly burnt, with dense black fumes contributing significantly to air pollution.

As per chief fire officer (Mahakumbh) Pramod Sharma, repeated incidents of fire in different sectors of the mela are not genuine cases of fire breakouts. “Sanitation workers carrying out cleaning in different sectors of the mela, especially the bathing ghats, where a significant amount of straw had been used to cover the sandy banks, are now burning it instead of disposing of it as per specified norms,” he said.

Sharma informed that a meeting was also held by the Mela Officer three days back in this context, which was attended by officials of the Pollution Control Board, the sanitation department and the fire department. “In the meeting, clear directives were issued for stopping the burning of straw in the mela area, but to no avail,” he added.

According to him, on March 6, in Sector 9, fires in straw dumps were reported at three different locations, while on March 7, the same was reported in Sector 10. On Saturday, straw dumps were burnt by sanitation workers in Sectors 18 and 21.

According to Dr SK Shukla, in charge of the UP Pollution Control Board, Prayagraj, incidents of burning of straw in the mela area have come to light, and the mela administration has been informed about the same, as it was causing a high level of air pollution.

ADM (Mela) Vivek Chaturvedi said that directives have already been issued to the sanitation department for disposing of solid waste present in different sectors of the mela as per norms and not burning the same. “If the footage of straw dumps being burnt by sanitation workers in the mela area is found to be true, then action will be initiated against those responsible,” he added.

While Mela officer Vijay Kiran Anand said fire was being set to straw dumps by miscreants. “Police have caught three such miscreants and a case was lodged by mela police against them in this regard. We have increased vigil in the Mela area to prevent any such incident being repeated,” he added.

Roughly, with 48 bathing ghats spread across a stretch of 12 kilometres in the mela area, over a quintal of straw was used to cover sand at each bathing ghat, bringing the total amount of straw used at bathing ghats to around 50 quintals. Additionally, straw flooring was also used in over 2 lakh camps housing 10 lakh Kalpwasis in different sectors of the mela, besides in pandals of different religious organisations during the mela.