Lost in Maha Kumbh? AI will find you with hi-tech ‘Bhule-Bhatke Kendras’

At least 40 crore people are expected to attend Mahakumbh from 13 January to 26 February. 1,500 CCTV cameras have been installed across 4,000-hectare mela area.

One of the lost-and-found centres at Mahakumbh mela venue in Prayagraj | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

Prayagraj/Lucknow: The return of Maha Kumbh after 12 years is marked with a unique technological twist. From digital lost-and-found centres to CCTV surveillance, facial recognition and LED displays, the Prayagraj administration is heavily relying on technology to seamlessly manage the crowds arriving for the world’s biggest religious gathering.

Around 45 crore people are expected to participate in the Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered event over 44 days. At the “digital Maha Kumbh” as it is being called, “predictive governance” will be used to manage movement of the crowd and traffic, and AI-powered drones to spot any cases of drowning.

“This Maha Kumbh is a confluence of tradition and technology, history and modern avenues,” said a senior official. Starting 13 January and concluding 26 February, it will take place along the river bank.

While the Kumbh mela takes place every year, the Maha Kumbh is a major Hindu religious celebration held every 12 years with devotees thronging to bathe at the sacred Triveni Sangam, where the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati converge.

A senior official stated that around 1,500 CCTV cameras have been installed across the 4,000-hectare mela area, adding that these cameras are integrated with the control and command unit.

“The control and command unit will have designated officers from each department—be it fire, water, or others. As soon as something happens, they will activate their team to respond in a timely manner,” the official added.

Another technological intervention by the administration is the introduction of digital lost-and-found centres, popularly called ‘Bhule-Bhatake Kendras’, set up to locate missing persons.

AI will power these centres wherein the new age technology will not only allow officials to match the photos of missing persons with those on social media accounts but also translate various languages in English and Hindi for easier communication.

“For the lost people and children, a designated area has been set up with basic amenities of bed where they can wait till they reconnect with their families,” said the officer.

Around 12 such centers have been set up, all connected to LED display screens. If a missing visitor or a devotee is traced, their face will be captured digitally and displayed on the LED screens across the mela venue so that their family members can locate them.

Family members can also file a complaint at these centres from where announcements would be made. “We experimented with this, and it worked well for us. No longer brothers will be separated in the Kumbh. We have the technology to bring them back,” the senior official said with a smile, alluding to the 1970s Bollywood theme of siblings separated in mela as children only to be united years later in their adulthood.

RFID wrist bands, QR codes as digital guides

AI-powered surveillance, facial recognition and automatic vehicle number plate recognition will be used by the UP Police and government officials to ensure the safety of devotees and detect criminal elements trying to enter the venue.

Devotees who enter the Mahakumbh Nagar will be able to access a digital guide of the area using QR codes printed on posters across the venue. Meanwhile, RFID wrist bands and thermal imaging will help security agencies monitor their movement while constantly evaluating the volume of the crowd.

Additional Director General (Prayagraj) Bhanu Bhasker said that apart from identifying criminal elements, video analytics and thermal imaging will help them monitor crowd movement.

“Predictive policing will help us know the rate of crowd movement from one place to another. For example, if the crowd has reached Sangam from the Mela entry in a particular duration on a given day, it will help us plan contingency measures for the next day,” Bhasker said.

Water drones, being used for the first time at the Maha Kumbh, will help alert the police in case there is an incident of drowning.

Cyber experts throw in word of caution

Cyber expert Pawan Duggal told ThePrint that this Maha Kumbh will likely be the biggest exercise where such a huge number of people will participate in an AI-powered event.

“This showcases India’s thought leadership where it is demonstrating to the world how AI can be used in public good, but the government needs to ensure that the output of the AI programmes are cyber secure and not unauthorisedly accessed. This includes the vast data of the devotees which needs to be secured due to their fundamental right to privacy under the Constitution,” he said.

Another cyber expert, Gautam Kumawat, said: “AI programmes are not more intelligent than humans. We can’t say that they are 100 percent correct in detecting criminal elements who can escape technology, but can help in many things that humans can’t detect and respond to immediately.”

(Edited by Tony Rai)