Notes show how British tried to keep Kumbh crowd at minimum: Deny train tickets, run few specials

Managing a Kumbh Mela, the world's largest gathering of religious pilgrims, has never been easy -- not now, not 100 years ago when India was still under the British rule, Uttar Pradesh was still United Province and people had limited options to commute.

A British-era communication between railway officials and the United Province
A letter dated November 8, 1917 from the then Railway Board President Sir RW Gillan to the then Lieutenant Governor of United Provinces Sir James Meston
"...and that steps should be taken to regulate traffic accordingly, in as much as railways will not be in a position to increase the number of specials on any particular date."