Kumbh Mela 2019

Kanpur's tanneries shut down last year for Kumbh and were not allowed to reopen because of environmental concerns.

The Mela commenced on January 15 on Makar Sankranti, the first bathing day, and the Mahashivratri on March 4 will mark its last bathing day

According to the official website of the 2019 Kumbh, "More than 15,000 sanitation workers, 40 compactors and 120 tippers have been pressed into service for disposal of waste"

Authorities expect up to 150 million people, including a million foreign visitors, to bathe at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna, and a mythical third river, the Saraswati

Besides, the languages mentioned above, work is in progress on automatic translation of Hindi announcements in Telugu, Oriya and Bengali

Dabur, Cox & Kings, Mother Dairy, Amul, Colgate and Jio among a host of other brands are flocking with the faithful

This year's Kumbh Mela budget is over thrice the budget of the Maha Kumbh in 2013

In Pictures: over 16 lakh take holy dip at Kumbh on Makar Sankranti

The moment arrived just before dawn around 5 a.m. when with prayers in their breath, they took the holy dip in the water as cold as ice.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said that since religious festival was being conducted on a large scale, segregation of waste should be done at source by educating people

It is also for the first time in the last 450 years that the devotees coming to the Kumbh will have an opportunity to pray at 'Akshay Vat' and 'Sarasvati Koop'