Uttarakhand Police : Kumbh Mela Surveillance

Kumbh Mela, the largest gathering as an act of faith, witnessed more than 20
Million people this year. It becomes a daunting and challenging task for the
State Police to manage such a massive religious crowd. State authorities
overseeing the event, felt the need to incorporate latest technology as a
critical aid for achieving the security objectives for Kumbh Mela 2010.

IP Surveillance Systems connected over a secure wireless network spanning more
than 30 Kms across all 4 critical locations (Rishikesh, Haridwar, Muni Ki Reti,
Neelkant) were installed. This wireless system was integrated to a centralized
command & control center located at Haridwar. During survey it was observed that
the terrain was highly irregular & due to its hilly nature, line of sight for
establishing a wireless network was not available. Also, frequent power cuts in
the region too posed a setback for successful functioning of the system. To
counter these issues, repeater stations were installed at Mansa Devi hill & the
height of the poles were increased to obtain Line of Sight for wireless
connectivity. UPS were provided at camera level & were mounted on weather proof
casings to beat the power cut issue.

The system provided complete information on crowd movement, vehicular movement.
Thus offering better decision support, advanced vehicle & crowd management
features and making this year's Kumbh Mela incident free till date. No life loss
due to stampede has been reported.