Traditional And Social Media in Promoting River Management Awareness: A Case of Namami Gange During Maha Kumbh 2025 at Prayagraj

River conservation is an urgent environmental and socio-cultural problem in India and for the Ganga River in particular. Although the Namami Gange mission has conducted several campaigns, traditional one-way communication has proved ineffective in encouraging the long-term participation and behaviour change of the public. Social media platforms have the interactive potential to create awareness about ecological issues and encourage participation, particularly in events such as Maha Kumbh Mela 2025 at Prayagraj with high visibility.

Social Media Campaigns; River Management; Ganga River; Namami Gange; Maha Kumbh Mela 2025

1. Joshi, S., & Chakravarty, P. (2025). An Assessment of Human Impact on Tropical Rivers: A Critical Review on Worship to Responsibility, Case of India. Remotely Sensed Rivers in the Age of Anthropocene, 607-635. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Roy, N. (2025). The Environmental Impacts of the Hindu Rituals on the Ganges: A Historical and Critical Analysis (Doctoral dissertation, © University of Dhaka). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Suresh, M. (2025). Rivers, Rights, and Religion: Securing Legal Personhood for the Ganges River in India. Tul. J. Int'l & Comp. L., 33, 41. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Xianglong, G. A. O., Chengpeng, L. U., Qi, F. E. N. G., & Wei, L. I. U. (2025). Adaptability Investigation of Water Ecological Security and Socio-Ecological Resilience in arid inland river basins, China. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, 100859. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Kumar, R., Goyal, M. K., Surampalli, R. Y., & Zhang, T. C. (2024). River pollution in India: exploring regulatory and remedial paths. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 26(9), 2777-2799. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Balkrishna, A., Singh, S. K., Ghosh, S., Banerjee, S., Verma, S., & Arya, V. (2024). An analytical review on the integrated management of river resources through Namami Gange. Water Policy, 26(5), 462-479. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Gange, N. (2024). An analytical review on the integrated management of river resources through. Water Policy, 26(5), 462. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Mahiwal, A., Khan, S. U., & Khan, S. (2024). Navigating The Digital Landscape: Social Media’s Influence on Climate Activism and Environmental Awareness. Global Media Journal-Indian Edition, 16(1). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Simon, M., & Joshi, H. (2022). Story of the Ganga River: Its pollution and rejuvenation. In Riverine systems: Understanding the hydrological, hydrosocial and hydro-heritage dynamics (pp. 21-55). Cham: Springer International Publishing. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Tiwari, S. Beyond pilgrimage: The socio-economic and cultural impact of the Prayagraj Kumbh Mela. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Shinde, K. A., & Olsen, D. H. (2022). Reframing the intersections of pilgrimage, religious tourism, and sustainability. Sustainability, 15(1), 461. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Iyer, V. H., Somani, P. P., Sharma, P., Gokhale, N., Wani, P., Behare, N., & Pulekar, D. N. (2025). The Sustainable Practices Implemented at Mega International Events and Evaluation of Their Effectiveness in Mitigating Environmental Degradation. In Navigating Trust in Sustainability Reporting and Assurance (pp. 409-438). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Fischer, H. A., Bernard, M. L., Kemppinen, K., & Gerber, L. R. (2023). Conservation awareness through social media. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 13(1), 23-30. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Verma, R. (2025). Security and Surveillance at Large Religious Gatherings: Crowd Management Strategies for the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela. Synergy: International Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 2(3), 47-57. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Shukla, R. (2025). Reimagining Mental Health at Mass Gatherings: Lessons from the Kumbh Mela: A Perspective: Kumbh: Spirituality and Mental Well-being. Indian Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 5(01), 7-9. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Madhu, D. R. K., Verma, O. P., & Kumar, M. (2025). Specifying the Effective Use of Artificial Intelligence for Crowd Management in Prayag Maha Kumbh Mela. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Maurya, A. K., & Gupta, H. (2025). Maha Kumbh 2025: The Economic Impact on Society. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Negi, R., Negi, A., Sharma, M., Venkatesan, S., Kumar, P., & Shukla, S. K. (2025). Cyber security of Mega Events: A Case Study of Securing the Digital Infrastructure for MahaKumbh 2025--A 45 days Mega Event of 600 Million Footfalls. arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.15660. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Singh, P. K., Tripathi, A., Sharma, R., & Dhuria, M. IT-based health event surveillance in mass gathering-Kumbh Mela 2021, Haridwar, Uttarakhand. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Kumar, S., Malhotra, D., & Kathuria, G. (2025). Digital devotion: how do social media content on religious occasion (Prayagraj Kumbh Fair at India, 2025) drive event attachment to shape the spiritual well-being of young tourist?. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 1-19. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. Sharma, S. P. (2025). Influence of Kumbh Mela on Indian Society: A Study. ldealistic Journal of Advanced Research in Progressive Spectrums (IJARPS) eISSN–2583-6986, 4(01), 93-100. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Sharma, S., & Behera, M. R. (2025). Digital Transformation of Pilgrimage Tourism: Mahakumbh as a Case Study of Smart Tourism Innovations. Journal of Scientific advances, 2(02), 18-29. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Mishra, D. R. (2025). Behavioral Intentions Towards Spiritual Tourism: Promoting Cultural Heritage and Sustainability Through Sustainable Development Goal (SDG11. 4) in Maha Kumbh, Prayagraj, India. PRAYAGRAJ, INDIA (March 07, 2025). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Yadav, D., Mahato, S., Choudhary, A., & Joshi, P. K. (2024). Cultural heritage and urban morphology: Land use transformation in ‘Kumbh Mela’of Prayagraj, India. Frontiers of Urban and Rural Planning, 2(1), 8. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. Bobade, A. P. Experience Marketing–Curating A Spiritual Congregation at Maha Kumbh. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Shukla, V. Faith, Tradition, and Community: The Social Impact of Kumbh. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Kumar, R. (2025). Restoring the Sacred Ganga: A Multidimensional Approach to Combating Pollution and Preserving Ecological and Cultural Integrity in Haridwar and Rishikesh. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Roychowdhury, R., & Singh, H. Beyond The Holy Dip: Pilgrimage, Youth Perspectives, And Environment Challenges in Maha Kumbh Mela. International Journal of Environmental Sciences, 11(21s), 2025. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. Krishnan, A., & Agrawal, S. (2025). Digital Transformation of Religious Events. Journal of Marketing & Social Research, 2, 534-539. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Mishra, A., Ranjan, Y., Mall, A., & Tiwari, A. K. ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD (EMF) EXPOSURE DURING MAHA KUMBH: ANALYSIS OF RADIOFREQUENCY RADIATION LEVELS IN PRAYAGRAJ. ECOSYSTEM DYNAMICS OF PRAYAGRAJ, 135. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• The Indirect Effect of Liquidity and Activity on Company Value with Profitability as an Intervening Variable
• Effect of Financial Skills, Knowledge, and Attitude on The Financial Behaviour of Clergy
• A Decade of Review: Trends in Budget Execution and Financial Performance of Development Projects in Tanzania (2014/15-2023/24)
• The Influence of Pre-Project Planning on the Budget Absorption Rate of Public Funded Infrastructure Projects in Kenya a Comparative Case Study of Narok, Migori, and Kisii County Government Projects
• Assessment of Factors Influencing Digital Transformation in Hotels’ Facility Management in Abuja Metropolis, Nigeria