UP Police wins SKOCH award for Maha Kumbh ICCC

Lucknow, Jan 12 (PTI) The Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) set up by the Uttar Pradesh Police for Maha Kumbh 2025 has won the prestigious SKOCH Gold Award, the state government said on Monday.

The award recognises the ICCC's role as a 24x7 nerve centre in managing one of the world's largest religious gatherings attended by more than 66 crore devotees during the 45-day Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, the government said in a statement.

It said the ICCC played a decisive role in ensuring safety, crowd management and cyber security during the mega event, which witnessed extraordinary footfall on key bathing days such as Mauni Amavasya.

Alongside handling massive ground-level crowd movements, the centre also neutralised over 60 lakh cyber attacks during the festival period.

The ICCC, conceptualised under the vision of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, integrated crowd management, traffic regulation, disaster response, public safety and inter-agency coordination on a real-time basis, the statement stated.

The ICCC model was selected for the SKOCH Gold Award at the 105th SKOCH Summit 2025 in Delhi.

Former ADG, Prayagraj Zone, Bhanu Bhaskar was honoured by the SKOCH committee, with the award received on behalf of the team by then SP, ICCC, Amit Kumar.

The government said the recognition highlights Uttar Pradesh Police's technology-driven and citizen-centric approach, with the ICCC emerging as a benchmark for managing large-scale public events through integrated command systems.

Preparations for the system began nearly a year in advance and involved scenario-based testing and technology-driven simulations, the statement said.

The ICCC operated round-the-clock and was equipped with more than 2,750 AI-enabled cameras, four operational command units, over 400 personnel and a 1920 call centre with multiple operators per shift.

Advanced tools such as ANPR-based vehicle monitoring, jam-proof wireless communication, variable message displays and an AI-based multilingual chatbot were also deployed, the statement said.

The government said Maha Kumbh 2025's extensive digital infrastructure made it a high-value cyber target.

During the event, cyber teams successfully blocked attacks originating from over 25 countries, including attempts involving DDoS (distributed denial of service), ransomware, spoofing and web application intrusions. Support from central agencies and technical institutions also contributed to strengthening cyber defences, the statement added. PTI KIS KVK KVK