Prayagraj’s fascinating story of downfall and rise

 

Allahabad was renamed as Prayagraj in 2018. In ancient scriptures, it’s mentioned as Triveni Sangam as the city is based on the confluence of the rivers Maa Ganga, Yamuna and the mystical Saraswati (no longer a physical form). It’s just 130 km from Varanasi (Kashi). Like Varanasi, it’s one of biggest pilgrimage centers for Hindus. The world record of largest human congregation goes to Prayagraj, where more than 3.5 crore (35 million) people took holy dip during kumbh mela on a single day (February 4, 2019).

 

It’s said that Allahabad was named by Emperor Akbar almost 450 years ago. Even during this 450 year period, people in rural Uttar Pradesh used to say that they are going to Prayag for holy dip in the river Maa Ganga.

 

Prayagraj was the capital of the British province covering today's Uttar Pradesh from 1858 to 1920. The importance of Prayagraj during British rule can be understood by the fact the city has India’s 4th oldest university and 7th oldest High court. It was among the top 10 cities in India. As capital, it attracted talent from across India. India’s first Prime minister, Nehru’s father migrated to Prayagraj in 1886. Famous actor Amithabh Bachchan's father migrated from a neighboring district to teach as a professor at Allahabad University.

 

Today also Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Board as well as Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission are based in Prayagraj. After independence, there were only a handful of cities where an engineering college and medical college both existed and Prayagraj was among these cities. The quality of university education in the city was so good that it was called “Oxford of the East”. Prayagraj was once called an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) producing factory. Many of the renowned Hindi poets like Mahadevi Verma, Suryakant Tripathi Nirala and Sumitranandan Pant resided in Prayagraj.
 

All these institutions and opportunities attracted young people to come to Prayagraj to take the coaching for Engineering, medical and govt job entrance test.
 
Out of the first 8 Prime ministers of India, 7 were either born or studied in Prayagraj. At the time of independence, Prayagraj was the 14th most populated city in India, which within 7 decades reached 36th rank.
 
Being a native of Prayagraj, I did quick research on reasons behind the city's downfall. The key reasons are:

1.     The capital from Prayagraj shifted to Lucknow in 1920. Hence, slowly, the city started losing political importance

2.     Law & order in the city as well as Uttar Pradesh declined considerably. Businessmen moved to cities like Lucknow and Delhi  

3.     The quality of university education dropped due to corruption in faculty selection. Bad student politics affected academics. University hostels got notorious for making crude bombs and student infighting

4.     No investment was made to improve the city infrastructure. Just 8-9 years back, not even a single traffic light was in working condition. A city of 1 million population had only 2 flyovers

5.     Road connectivity with other prominent cities was with a single-lane overcrowded road full of potholes.  

6.     Power shortages, corruption and bad law & order and crumbling infrastructure worked as a cocktail to deprive the city of any private mega-investment

7.     Road encroachment and bad traffic management led to slow traffic movement, thus giving the impression of backward district

8.     Lack of job opportunities led to young generation to look outside. Most middle-class educated people moved to other cities for jobs. Thus, businesses are affected in the absence of growth.

9.     The Information Technology Industry boomed in last 3 decades but Prayagraj could not take advantage due to various reasons

10.  Uttar Pradesh being a land-locked state, could not attract export-oriented industries. Thus, Prayagraj also failed to bring big industrial investment (barring one or two). Many public sector undertakings like Bharat Pumps and Compressor Limited, ITI, Hindustan Cables became sick or closed down.

 

The situation became so bad by the late 20th century that people used to wonder how a city of such a repute could go down so fast.

Well, some positive developments have happened in recent past that’s giving a ray of hope:

 

1.     Central university status was provided to Allahabad University in 2003. Post that improvement is observed  

2.     24 by 7 electricity is now available, which is helping MSMEs  

3.     The new airport terminal in 2019 helped to dramatically improve air connectivity. From just 1 flight to more than 10 daily flights now  

4.     Road connectivity has improved with key cities (4/6 lane highways have come up). Ganga Expressway from Prayagraj to Meerut (Delhi NCR) is under construction. It’s a 6-lane wide 594 km long expressway  

5.     Investment in city infrastructure has been made. Thanks to the smart city project. Recently, the city ranked 14th out of 100 cities in terms of project implementation. From just 2 flyovers a few years back to now more than 10 flyovers/overbridges

6.     Law & order has improved. Recently, Prayagraj has been made new Police Commissionrate

7.     Encroachments are removed as well as traffic is well managed  

8.     Kumbh mela grandiose and road journey of only 2 hours between Varanasi and Prayagraj is helping in improving tourism. ‘Vande Bharat’ train has been announced between Varanasi and Prayagraj which would bring down the travel time to just 1 hour

9.     The coaching industry is doing well. Thanks to rising income levels of rural Uttar Pradesh

10.  Renowned IAS coaching academies are opening up their branches in Prayagraj

11.  Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation is constructing Saraswati Hi-Tech city in the outskirts of Prayagraj. It will have industrial areas, residential areas, parks, museum, University and a stadium. 

 

Aspiration is the most important human behaviour which helps to challenge the status quo. It’s heartening to see the aspiration among the younger generation of achieving something significant in life. The Internet and availability of opportunities are fueling aspiration.

I know, it’s still a long way to go for Prayagraj to enter into the top 15 cities of India, but "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". Happy to see the first few steps.  

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Manoj Tripathi

Disclaimer: Views are personal and data is an approximation to articulate the facts.

(Manoj Tripathi is author of the bestselling non-fiction book “Power of Ignored Skills”