By Omar Rashid
New Delhi: Story idea no. 54: “Mahakumbh: How Preparations Were Made for the Biggest Event on Earth”.
Storyline: The preparations for Mahakumbh 2025 began with a crucial meeting in 2022, chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Since then, the Chief Minister has made multiple visits to Prayagraj to oversee the progress. Prior to the event, Prime Minister Modi himself visited to review the preparations and inaugurate several key projects. These efforts were essential in creating a temporary city, ‘Mahakumbh Nagar,’ to host the largest spiritual gathering on Earth. Over 50,000 workers dedicated themselves day and night to build this new city. Where permanent bridges couldn’t be constructed in time, temporary four-lane steel bridges were erected. The roads leading to Prayagraj were widened and beautified to accommodate the influx of pilgrims. The double-engine government worked in seamless coordination, ensuring that railway bridges and other infrastructure met the demands of the event.
Elements required for the story: Byte of the representative of the administration/government, byte of the authorized representative of the fair authority, byte of local people, byte of those working at the fair site, byte of a local senior journalist.”
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If you think you have stumbled upon the private notes of a reporter friendly to the ‘double-engine’ Bharatiya Janata Party governments in the Union an Uttar Pradesh, you are wrong.
This is only but a humble extract from a letter published by the publicity wing of the Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh to spoon feed journalists on how to cover the Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 and extol the achievements of the ruling dispensation.
The single largest gathering of humanity along the Sangam – the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati – is a reporter’s dream. From culture to infrastructure to religious colour, environmental issues and political activities, the Kumbh Mela is a ready repository of journalistic stories in addition to from being a remarkable experience on its own.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
