Development Minister Gopal Rai on Friday inspected Kudesia Ghat at Kashmere Gate to take stock of preparations for Chhath Puja. He was accompanied by senior officials representing the Irrigation and Flood Control department, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and the revenue department. The BJP argued that much more needed to be done and demanded a high-level meeting be held to ensure better arrangements.
According to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, 565 ghats were being set up along the banks of River Yamuna for Chhath Puja, observed as a major festival by people hailing from the Poorvanchal region which comprises Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. “Out of 565 ghats, 50 pucca ghats have been constructed. The Minister has directed the departments concerned to start providing facilities like tents at all ghats from Saturday ,” a senior government official said.
Monitoring committee
The official said that a monitoring committee has also been constituted to look after preparations of Chhath ghats. The Capital has around 40 lakh Poorvanchali voters who play a key role in elections across categories. Earlier this year, the AAP government had made a special financial provision in the 2017-18 Budget for setting up sufficient number of Chhath ghats across the city.
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari demanded that the State government call a high-level meeting to ensure better preparations for the festival, on the sidelines of a meeting of the party’s Poorvanchal Morcha where the topic of discussion revolved around the alleged “negligence” of the Arvind Kejriwal government in “solving problems” related to its observance.
The BJP claimed representatives of about 300 puja samitees from the Capital, participated in the meeting where Mr. Tiwari also directed the Municipal Corporations of Delhi to fully co-operate in making arrangements.
“Lakhs of Poorvanchalis settled in Delhi observe Chhath Puja every year and the Delhi government should rise above party politics and understand the sentiments of the people. The Kejriwal government is trying to find scope for politics in this religious festival by insulting the Chhath Puja Samitees which is unfortunate,” Mr. Tiwari alleged.
