Lost in Kumbh? Here’s How You Find A Missing Person at the Mela

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Two siblings getting separated at the Kumbh, only to reunite years later, is a common plot in Bollywood films. But what happens when people get separated from each other at the Kumbh Mela for real, in this era of mobile and internet? How does the administration ensure that they are reunited with their families at one of the largest gatherings in the world?

Well, here’s how you find a missing person at the Kumbh Mela in real life:

Ways to Find Missing People at the Kumbh

There are two ways to find missing persons at the Kumbh: Computerised and Manual.

Like every year, this time, too, a fully computerised ‘Lost and Found Department’ has been set up to take care of missing persons.

Let’s take a look at how both the systems - computerised and manual - work.

Computerised System

Pune’s Kaash IT Solutions Limited has coordinated with UP Police to set up the computerised Lost and Found Department at the Kumbh. Here’s how it works:

• First, the missing person’s name, age, appearance and attire is registered.
• The details of the person/family accompanying the missing person are registered.
• The time of when was the missing person was last seen with their family/friends.
• The moment the details of the lost person are entered by the data operator, they are flashed on LED screens in the entire arena.
• Their photo, age and attire is then announced.

“This Lost and Found Department has been set up in coordination with UP Police. We have 15 centres in Allahabad, out of which 12 centres are in the Kumbh, and three in the city. Whenever someone who has been separated from his/her kin comes to us, like she is looking for her dear ones, our data operator collects details of them and their kin.”

Manish Jha, Kaash IT Solutions Limited, Pune

Manual System

Here also, the missing person’s name, age and appearance are registered first. Then, the person’s name is announced on loudspeakers installed in various places at the Mela.

“My father, Pandit Rajaram Tiwari, inaugurated the Lost and Found Department in 1946. We have 150 members in the department. They work towards reuniting those who get separated. Their names are announced. We provide them with meals. If their dear ones are not found, we even ensure they are sent home. Even in this modern era, people come here to take a dip in the holy Ganga, and some even forget their dear ones. We have, so far on record, reunited close to 550 men and women and four kids.

Bholanath Tiwari, President, Lost and Found department

Both lost and found systems – computerised and manual – function simultaneously to reunite those separated from their family or friends.

(This article was originally published on Quint Hindi.)