ANNOUNCEMENTS
Background and aim- Kumbh mela is an occasion not only drives devotees from all across the world but also is acts as a source of income generation for many as they get involved in the Kumbh Mela. When one talks about the economic impact of such a mega cultural event, many stakeholders can be taken into consideration. One of the major stakeholders to focus upon are the local communities residing along the banks of Yamuna and Ganga whose primary source of occupation depends upon the river. More so, there are a few literatures highlighting the impacts been beard by the local communities. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to understand and analyse the economic impacts of the Kumbh Mela, 2019 on the lives of the local communities. The time duration is that of 50 days from the January 15th, 2019 till March 4th 2019.
Analysis- Since, economic impacts have been taken into consideration, stratified random sampling has been conducted so that the impacts on the different economic strata that has been identified can be studied. Thereafter, the data was collected with the help of semi- structured household surveys and henceforth to assess and estimate the average monthly profit and loss of the communities was estimated with the help of Microsoft Excel.
Results- The results showed that the local communities residing on the banks of the river Ganga and Yamuna generated an overall profit from the Kumbh mela, 2019. But the local activities like agriculture and fishing were being disrupted in the Ganga river as the mela area was stretched over an estimated area of 3,200 hectares and restrictions were imposed on activities like agriculture, fishing and boating. This resulted in an occupational shift to overcome the losses.
Key words- Kumbh Mela, Culture, Festival, Cultural festival, Livelihood, Rural areas
