How are crores of people counted in Maha Kumbh, how different is this crowd assessment technique from before

Millions of devotees gathered in Kumbh -Photo UP Kumbh Administration

It is very difficult to estimate the number of people coming to Maha Kumbh from the pictures of the crowd. In such a situation, AI based high-tech cameras have been installed in the fair area for accurate estimation. Along with this, the density of the crowd is also measured in a certain radius and people are counted according to the total area.

This time 45 crore devotees are expected to take bath in the holy confluence in the Maha Kumbh of Prayagraj. Talking about the last two days, more than 5 crore devotees have come to the Kumbh Mela in the first two days itself, which is a record in itself. But how is such a huge crowd coming to Kumbh counted … Also, is it just an estimate or is any accurate method used behind it. So today we tell you what techniques have been adopted to count the people in Kumbh, which is called the world’s largest religious event.

How is the crowd being counted Talking about Mahakumbh 2025, this time’s Kumbh is very special because in this Kumbh, which is held every 12 years, such a coincidence is happening after 144 years, because till now 12 Kumbhs have been completed. For this reason it is being called Mahakumbh and the number of devotees coming to it is more than any Kumbh before. In such a situation, the UP government has resorted to high-tech equipment to count the devotees coming to the Kumbh Mela and this time people are being counted with the help of AI based cameras.

The government has formed a special team to count the devotees coming to Mahakumbh 2025 and the name of this team is Crowd Assessment Team. This team is counting the people coming to Mahakumbh on real time basis and for this, the help of such special cameras is being taken which are counting people with the help of artificial intelligence. People are being scanned, these cameras scan the faces of the people coming to Mahakumbh and according to the crowd present there, it estimates how many lakh people have come to the fair area of ​​​​Mahakumbh in how many hours. At present, 1800 such cameras are installed in the entire fair area of ​​​​Mahakumbh. Apart from this, this team is taking the help of drones to count the people, which measure the density of the crowd in a certain area and it is found out how many people are participating in the Mahakumbh event in a day. How many people have bathed in Sangam.

Help of drones and AI technology

It is difficult to estimate the number of people from the pictures of the crowd coming to the Maha Kumbh. In such a situation, AI based high-tech cameras have been installed for accurate estimation, they are 360 ​​degree cameras. Such cameras are installed in the entire fair area, in which there are 1100 fixed cameras and about 744 temporary cameras. Crowd is being counted through these cameras installed in the entire fair area. Also, drone cameras measure the density per square meter and calculate people according to the total area.

Apart from this, crowd is being counted in other ways. One is people flow… how many people are coming from a route and are being counted upon entering the fair area. What is the crowd density in an area, which are sensitive areas, which are critical areas, what is the density of crowd on them, it is being estimated through these cameras. Apart from this, the average data of mobile phones present with the people is being counted through an app. All data is being sent to the crowd assessment team, which is providing the final figures of the people count. All data is being sent to the crowd assessment team, which is providing the final figures of the people count.

Data of devotees with the help of satellite

Earlier, the data of people was collected on the basis of the count of trains, buses and boats coming to Kumbh. Also, the data of people visiting the camps of saints and sages built in the fair area is collected and counted. Not only this, the data of the crowd present on the roads of the city is also collected and counted. However, this time also the number of trains and buses is being tracked.

Till the year 2013, i.e. before the last Kumbh, the counting of people was done from the report released by the administration and the data released by the officials was considered final. But now technology is being used at different levels for this, so that more and more accurate data can be collected. Earlier, the people coming to Kumbh were also counted through satellite, but its drawback was that if the same person came to the fair area again and again, then he was counted every time, in such a situation the data could not be collected accurately.

Earlier, the counting was done by head count

According to the information, the practice of counting the devotees coming to Kumbh started from the 19th century. During the British rule, people were counted one by one by putting up barricades on different roads leading to Kumbh. Along with this, the crowd was also estimated by counting the tickets of trains coming to Kumbh. But then the crowd used to come in lakhs which has now turned into crores. In such a situation, the methods of counting have also been modernized with time

However, it is difficult to say that whatever figures come are absolutely accurate. Even though repeat counting of a person can be avoided through face scan, it is almost impossible to collect absolutely accurate data of the devotees coming to Maha Kumbh. This is the reason that only an estimate can be made about the people coming to Kumbh with the help of technology.