With no guidelines on Chhath in place, several political leaders like Jamshedpur East MLA Saryu Roy and former CM Raghubar Das have demanded a cleanliness drive to be carried out at the Chhath ghats.
According to the officials of Chhath Ghat Committees thousands of devotees every year offer “Araghya” to the setting sun at various ghats in Mango, Adityapur, Baghbera, Sidghora but in view of pandemic Covid-19 no step has been taken so far. Lack of cleanliness remains a major concern.
Saryu Roy visited various Chhath Ghats under his assembly constituency in view of Chhath. He inspected Bagunhatu Donga Ghat, Bihari Ghat, Nirala Path Ghat of Bardih, District School Ghat, Bhojpur Colony Ghat, Santhal Basti Ghat of Birsanagar etc. are included. During the inspection of the ghats, he laid special emphasis that the devotees coming to Chhath should not have any problem.
Roy instructed the concerned officials to make all the proper arrangements before Chhath. He instructed the concerned officials to make proper arrangement of light in Chhath, mark the Danger Zone, mark the depth zone on the Ghats and arrange for divers.
“We are clueless as there has been no proper guidelines for the festival. Only after the instructions from the Government, the administration would ensure proper lighting facilities, lifesaving divers along the ghats,” said an official.
BJP’s national vice president Raghubar Das visited Dhoni Ghat. Das has written a letter to the state government a few days ago and has asked for the early release of instructions on Chhath.
The task of cleaning up the ghats is vested on Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC), Mango Notified Area Committee (MNAC) and Jugsalai municipality while Tata Steel’s subsidiary Jusco will be providing electricity and installing lightings at major ghats for the festivity.
Nonetheless, the police particularly of Kadma, Sonari, Sidhgora, Baridih and Telco have been asked to increase the pace of their mobility in the rundown areas beside the two popular rivers to prevent unlawful incidents.
The members of the local peace committees of the concerned police stations have been urged to make regular visits to the ghats to keep the possible suspects away from the site till the festival gets over.
And, the members too, have agreed to cooperate with the administration to make the festival get over peacefully.
“The administration should also ensure proper lighting facilities, life saving divers along the ghats. Thousands of devotees would offer Rs Rs AraghyaRs Rs to the setting sun at various ghats in Mango, Adityapur, Baghbera, Sidghora. The administration should deploy police personnel and emergency services like ambulances at riverbanks,” noted Central Peace Committee secretary Ram Babu Singh.