Railways ran a number of special trains and bus operators,

both private and government, plied hundreds of additional buses for the occasion. However, according to reports received here, a railway station in the neighbouring district of Pratapgarh was vandalised this morning by people angry over non-availability of a special train for a trip to the holy Sangam. Tight security arrangements were in place with more than 15,000 security personnel drawn from central paramilitary forces like ITBP, CRPF, BSF and RAF besides the Uttar Police and its Provincial Armed Constabulary and Anti Terrorist Squad keeping a close vigil. Besides, the Army which has an ordnance depot located close to the Kumbh area, also did its bit by conducting aerial surveys every few minutes. Army sources said they have offered to temporarily open some of the area under its control, normally out of bounds for general public, if the Kumbh administration finds itself inconvenienced in handling the heavy rush of devotees on the normal routes. A number of VIPs, including political heavyweights, film stars and business tycoons have visited the Kumbh over the past few weeks. They included Sriprakash Jaiswal, Rajnath Singh, Subodh Kant Sahay, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Hinduja brothers, Anil Ambani with his mother Kokilaben, film producer Ekta Kapoor, actors Shilpa Shetty, Emraan Hashmi, Rajpal Yadav and Ashutosh Rana and stand-up comedian Raju Srivastava. A number of classical musicians like Pandit Jasraj, Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Malini Awasthi also enthralled people by their performances at the Kumbh area. However, the administration had banned any film promotional activity in the Kumbh area to prevent any unwanted gathering of crowds, which could lead to a stampede.