“Iss baar ka Kumbh divya aur bhavya hoga (The 2019 Kumbh [Mela] will be divine and grand),” Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath promised Prayagraj when he visited the city on Saturday (5 January).

Kumbh is a grand and divine mela (festival) in itself. It has been so for centuries. What will be different this time around is the level of preparation of the state government for management of the mela. And what better way to fulfill the promise of divyata (divinity) and bhavyata (grandeur) than to ensure this year’s mela is an epitome of swachhta.

This is one of the most important aspects of 2019 Kumbh management apart from unprecedented security and surveillance arrangements. Since Adityanath assumed charge in Uttar Pradesh, toilet coverage has improved drastically in the state from 47 per cent in April 2017 to around 80 per cent now by building more than 1.5 crore toilets. From a laggard in 2017, Uttar Pradesh is now a leader in building toilets in the country. The state government is bringing the same focus on sanitation to its preparations for Kumbh as well.

The administration has installed 122,500 toilets in the mela area. To put this in perspective, only 34,000 toilets were put up in Prayagraj during 2013 Kumbh and 64,000 in 2016 Kumbh in Ujjain.

Of the 122,500 toilets this year, there are 42,500 community toilets and 20,000 urinals in the mela area, another 20,000 toilets in parking areas and on the road sides, with maintenance and operations of these 82,500 toilets being managed by Lallooji & Sons, a private vendor that has been given the contract to put up these toilets. The company has hired thousands of sweepers and managers for this purpose.