As the unrelenting Mahakumbh crowd continues to swell and cause disturbance to the daily life of Prayagraj residents, a local has publicly asked visitors to stop coming to the city. In a post on Reddit, a resident said that Prayagraj has officially reached its “breaking point”. The sheer volume of tourists has made it difficult for locals to go about their everyday lives.
The user explained how the city was transformed over the previous year as part of the Mahakumbh city overhaul, with new roads, flyovers, and better traffic control. But now, the thrill of hosting such a large event has turned into sheer exhaustion.
“Now it’s 19th February. The last Amrit Snan is already done. We are literally in the ending phase of Mahakumbh. So, why the h*ll is the crowd only increasing instead of decreasing?” he wrote.
The user described the deteriorating circumstances of the city, saying it had congested highways, crowded public transportation, and even the smallest lanes crammed with people and cars.
Sharing a particularly infuriating incident, the user said that the locals were being blamed for the congestion. He wrote, “The worst part? We locals are being blamed. Yesterday, I thought, ‘Chalo, jo bacha-kucha hai, ghoom lete hain. (Let’s roam the rest of the city)‘ Biggest mistake. I took my vehicle out, only to be stopped by random strangers yelling at me, saying ‘Aap logon ki wajah se jam lag raha hai!‘ (There is a traffic congestion because of you) Bruh, we live here.”
Prayagraj is EXHAUSTED! Locals are DONE with the Mahakumbh crowd????????????????????
byu/Sopredictablee inuttarpradesh
The user concluded his post with a desperate plea, asking devotees to postpone their trips. “Please, for the love of God, STOP COMING. Ganga ji aur Sangam kahin nahi ja rahe. (The Ganga and sangam is not going anywhere). You can come peacefully later. Have some mercy on this city and its people. We are begging you,” he wrote.
The post claimed the pedestrians were spitting and littering without any civic etiquette, while vehicles made the “already insane” traffic worse.
The Maha Kumbh, the largest religious gathering in the world, started on January 13 and will conclude on February 26.
