Inside police's lost-and-found booth at the Kumbh Mela

The police has to keep a lookout during the Mela as getting lost amid lakhs of people in Haridwar is a real threat

In the age of mobile phones and Google Maps, the idea of getting lost in a crowd doesn't bother people. However, at the Kumbh Mela, where hundreds of thousands of people from different walks of life congregate, getting lost is a real threat.

The large crowds at the massive religious event, already troublesome amid a pandemic, can incite anxiety especially in the police forces responsible to maintain safety.

That is when Naresh Sharma comes in, the in-charge of a lost-and-found booth at the site. He reads faces using CCTV cameras to find frantic people or others in distress. Those who find a family member missing come to Sharma's booth. A few announcements are made and families are reunited at this booth, according to a report by The Indian Express.

Even as Covid-19 cases in India are on the uptick, lakhs of people from across the country thronged to Haridwar at the Kumbh Mela on the occasion of Mahashivaratri earlier this week.

The authorities told the publication that over 200 cases of missing persons were reported in the last 10 days.

Sharma said since the elderly and children don't carry mobile phones, it is possible to drift away in the sea of people.

Sharma's booth is one of the many initiatives taken at the Kumbh Mela to ensure safety. The police has also adopted new-age technologies to tackle the ever-increasing crowd. An AI-based surveillance system is in place which helps authorities track faces, assess crowd density, and monitor headcount. It also helps check social distancing norms and find violators of the mask rule.

"There are cases when youngsters take turns in making false announcements to get their voices recorded and circulate it among friends for fun. There are times it is obvious but we cannot afford to turn anyone away,” he said.