Politics intensifies as Delhi civic bodies begin Chhath Puja preparations

The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has already announced that it will celebrate the festival, albeit with Covid protocols

New Delhi: Politics over the ban on Chhath Puja in Delhi this year in the light of Covid 19 pandemic intensified on Monday with the BJP-ruled municipal corporations announcing that they have begun preparations for the annual festival. The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has already announced that it will celebrate the festival, albeit with Covid protocols.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) banned Chhath Puja on September 30 -- the second consecutive year that the authorities prohibited the celebrations. (Amal KS/HT Archive)

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) banned Chhath Puja on September 30 -- the second consecutive year that the authorities prohibited the celebrations.

Mukesh Suryan, the mayor of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), said directions have been issued to the officials to start preparations at sites where Chhath Puja will be held. “I have recently inspected on Chhath Puja ghat in Vasant Vihar. We will be holding the community festival on 148 Chhath ghats. The festival will be held and there are no doubts in our minds that permission will be obtained,” Suryan said.

Leader of the house in SDMC Inderjeet Sehrawat said the Chhath festival will be held “like every year”. “We have decided to keep the preparations ready from our side. The permission will be secured,” he added.

Last Thursday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal, who is the DDMA chairperson, to allow the festival with Covid protocols. On October 12, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia wrote Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya, urging the Centre to issue guidelines for the Chhath festival as soon as possible following consultation with health experts.

Chhath Puja, a three-day festival, will be celebrated between November 8-10 this year. It is most popular in states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and parts of Madhya Pradesh.

With 4 million constituents, of the total 14.7 million registered voters in Delhi, poorvanchalis have emerged as a major cultural and political block in the city during the last decade, and the observance of Chhath festival-- which is observed six days after Diwali-- in public places has also grown proportionally. From just 72 ghats in 2015, the number of Chhath sites in Delhi has grown to 1,108 in 2019.

BJP MP from Northeast Delhi Manoj Tiwari, one of the most prominent Poorvanchali BJP leader, launched a yatra in his constituency on October 9 against the DDMA ban.

Chhail Bihari Goswami, the leader of the house in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, said they are going ahead with the Chhath ghat preparations, disinfection and fogging of the designated sites. “We have earmarked at least one to two sites in each of the 104 municipal wards under our jurisdiction. Preparations will be made in anticipation of permission being granted,” he added.

Shyam Sunder Aggarwal, the mayor of the east DMC said majority of Chhath ghat sites in densely populated east Delhi areas are located along the Yamuna between Wazirabad and Noida border. “I have held review meetings with senior officials. Cleaning of sites along the river will be initiated on mission mode so that devotees don’t face any problem. Besides deploying sanitation staff, mobile toilets and fogging machines we will also carry out repair work of approach roads on major ghats,” he added.