Prayagraj: Elderly people, women and children are finding it tough in reaching Sangam to take a holy dip, as it is a no lesser feat than trekking the seven hills in Tirupati or reaching the Sabarimala temple.

Once devotees get down at any of the Prayagraj railway stations or designated temporary bus bays, they must go on a walkathon of around 15 km to 30 km to reach the Sangam Dwar, the entry point to take a holy dip.

For instance, a team of about 85 people from Nepal landed at Prayagraj Railway junction. They were told that transport would be available after walking a few yards from the station. However, the team, with several elderly people, was left confused and time and again inquiring with the police, officials or residents sporting Kumbh duty identity cards.

It is the same fate for lakhs of people arriving at the railway stations. One has to walk down for about four to five kilometers only to be told to take diversion and move on the CY Chintamani Street. One has to walk around six to seven kilometres from there to reach the George Town junction, with a further walk of five kilometres or so to reach the Sangam Dwar.

Once one takes a holy dip at the Sangam Ghat, the return is as good as walking to Sangam. The returning crowd was diverted at an existing point under a Road Over Bridge (RoB) near the Sabzi Mandi.

The real ordeal starts from there, with the existing number of e-rickshaws available being no match to the number of people seeking their service to reach the railway stations. The autowallahs charge rates equivalent to SUV vehicles on a per kilometre basis to fetch commuters.

The woes of people do not end there as people in their rush to reach the railway stations and other points from where they are likely to get transportation offer competitive prices against one another, turning it into a site for auction, and whoever pays more will nail the trip on the e-rickshaws.

While no traffic policemen or transport officials are seen in sight, the ones seen in the police dresses are cooperative, as far as guiding devotees and giving information. But they turn helpless when it comes to intervention and stopping the looting of the ‘Charge as I like’, rate card of e-rikshawallahs.

That apart, a bunch of young men were found with their bikes from the Sabzi Mandi down to the Civil Lines Bus stand, Railway station, Naini Ghat and several other places offering their services to drop the people returning from Sangam and other ghats to the points where they wanted.

Although the rates are negotiable, the exploitation of people is the order of the day, says Nikitha and Ashrit, who have come from Delhi to take the holy dip.

Priti, a local resident at Civil Lines Bus station (temporarily closed), turned her ire on a biker shouting at her and said, “In this Maha Kumbh, instead of supporting devotees, you fellows are looting people and tarring the image of Prayagraj. It won’t even cost Rs 200. How can you demand Rs 500?” The woman shouting at the biker on a main road made the biker plead with her not to shout loudly as police personnel hearing the commotion might take action against him.