Selfies banned at India's Kumbh Mela festival to prevent stampedes

HARIDWAR, India, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Organizers of the Kumbh Mela festival in India are imposing a selfie ban in order to prevent a potential stampede during ritual bathing in the Godavari river.

The BBC reports the Hindu festival has already amassed nearly three million attendees since July, and "no selfie zone" signs are now visible at both sites in Nashik and Trimbakeshwar, in Maharashtra state.

As part of a study conducted with 100 volunteers, local administrators found people who took selfies ended up slowing the flow of people through the river, leading to pushing and panicking. The study also found people climbed to dangerous locations to take such pictures.

Dr. Pravin Gedam, municipal commissioner of Nashik, told the Indian Express the ban was imposed after meetings with local officials and law enforcement, and that it would be most strictly enforced during the "Shahi Snan," or "holy dip," the first of which occurred Saturday, with two more occasions planned at both sites later this month.

Deadly stampedes are not uncommon at religious festivals in India. On Aug. 10, at least 10 people died as thousands of attendees of a religious festival in Deoghar, India, rushed toward a temple as its doors opened, and on July 14, at least 27 Hindu pilgrims died in a stampede while on the banks of the Godavari river at the start of the Maha Pushkaralu religious festival.