Taking congnizance of foam formation at certain places in the Yamuna River, Delhi Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) VK Saxena wrote to Arvind Kejriwal asking him to deal with the issue of froth in the river before the festival on Sunday. In a letter, the L-G said that this was a matter of grave concern and if left unattended it may prove to be injurious to devotees and directed the Chief Minister to resolve it urgently.
The L-G, stated that Chhath Puja is one of the biggest festivals associated with the spiritual, cultural and religious faith of millions of people. It involves large number of devotees gathering at water bodies such as ponds, rivers, reservoirs and lakes across Delhi to worship the rising and setting sun.
According to reports, the Delhi Government has built around 1,100 ghats for Chhath Puja across the city.
Saxena said that the people in lakhs would be gearing up for celebrating the festival of Chhath across Delhi after two years of restrictions imposed on festivities due to the Covid-l9 pandemic. The L-G said that more than 840 sites have been identified and designated for this purpose by the departments concerned. Anticipating large gatherings this year and keeping in mind the zeal and fervour with which the festival is celebrated, it becomes imperative on part of the administration to leave no stone unturned in the unfettered organization the festival at all designated Chhath Puja Ghats, with utmost professionalism.
Saxena said that it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure cleanliness at the Ghats before the festival, during and after the religious ceremony is also of paramount importance.
The L-G said that this is necessary that sufficient manpower and logistics must be put in place well before time at all sites. Simultaneously, relevant information in this regard along with messages creating awareness and urging people regarding the same must be put in public domain. Saxena also said that this would facilitate the people and also ensure environment-friendly behaviour by way of prohibiting single use plastic, methodical disposal of waste at Ghats, waste collection measures etc. at places where offerings are to be made by the devotees.
The L-G also asked the Chief Minister to put requisite safety measures at all Ghats including marking of danger zone, barricading of deep waters to avoid any untoward incident, adequate lighting, deploying divers and rescue boats, etc.
Saxena also underlined some of the designated Ghats like Bhalswa lake, Wazirabad- Sonia Vihar, Badli, Bawana Industrial Area, Maidan Garhi, Kalindi Kunj, Budh Bazar-Uttam Nagar amongst others, where large congregation of devotees ranging from 10,000 to 4,00,00 is expected to be present. To facilitate the devotees, he said that proper planning for crowd management and securing law and order at all sites has already been discussed with Delhi Police.
The L-G informed that civic bodies in the city including NDMC, Municipal Corporation of Delhi MCD and Delhi Development Authority have also been directed to ensure cleanliness and make arrangements for other civic amenities under their jurisdiction in mission mode.
Tbe L-G also emphasized that the required measures for galvanizing all concerned agencies for facilitating the devotees and ensuring seamless services for them and other visitors must have been put in place by the date.