Officials had been preparing for months for the world’s largest religious festival, with around 400 million Hindu pilgrims expected to take part

Prayagraj: The Uttar Pradesh government has invoked strict measures in Prayagraj a day after a stampede took place in the Maha Kumbh Mela.

Now, in the wake of this incident, five major changes have been introduced to avoid such mishaps. The entire Maha Kumbh fair area has now been declared a No-Vehicle Zone, with all types of vehicles strictly prohibited from entering. This includes the cancelation of VVIP passes that previously allowed vehicle entry.

A senior police officer said at least 30 people died as a crowd panicked at the Hindu Kumbh Mela mega-festival in the northern city of Prayagraj.

Many were feared dead after millions of Hindu pilgrims at a huge Hindu festival in India rushed to bathe in holy river waters.

Nearly 40 people were killed in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday and several others injured in a pre-dawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela - a Hindu religious festival touted to be the largest human gathering in the world.

At least seven people were killed and around 10 injured in a pre-dawn stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj on Wednesday, an official said, the most auspicious day of the six-week Great Pitcher Festival.