Security beefed up ahead of Chhath festival; 12 ghats declared ‘unsafe’ in Patna

District magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh and SSP Upendra Kumar Sharma held a joint meeting at SK Memorial Hall on Sunday to assess final preparations ahead of the Chhath festival.

Authorities beefed up security arrangements in the state capital for peaceful celebration of the four-day Chhath festival beginning from Monday.

A view of Digha ghat in Patna ahead of Chhath Puja festival on Sunday. (Santosh Kumar/HT)

District magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh and SSP Upendra Kumar Sharma held a joint meeting at SK Memorial Hall on Sunday to assess final preparations ahead of the Chhath festival.

They instructed all concerned departments, including health, disaster, energy, building construction, police and municipal corporation, to work in coordination for the peaceful celebration of Chhath.

During the review meeting, authorities said the Chhath festival will be celebrated at 96 ghats and ponds while 12 ghats have been declared ‘unsafe’ owing to the high water level of the river, unclean river water or marshy river banks.

Sharma said, “Altogether 1700 policemen, 587 magistrates and 316 police officers have been deployed for tight security in the city. Besides, separate police squads have been constituted for night patrolling for keeping a check on theft during Chhath festival.”

The district administration has set up 161 temporary toilets,161 urinals and 319 changing rooms for the convenience of devotees at ghats. Apart from this, 131 watchtowers and 226 control rooms have been set up for crowd monitoring. Altogether 91 teams of doctors and 28 ambulances are also deployed to deal with any medical emergencies at ghats on November 10 and 11.

DM Singh said, “Eight teams of NDRF and four teams of SDRF have also been deployed at ghats. Auxiliary control rooms have been set up for effective crowd management. The civil surgeon has been instructed to ensure the availability of medical teams and ambulances at ghats and alert public hospitals including PMCH, NMCH, IGIMS, Kurji hospital for keeping their services, including operation theatre operational for 24 hours to deal with any exigency during the festival.”

Patna district administration has declared 12 ghats, including Maharaj Ghat, Adalat Ghat, Mishri Ghat, TN Banerjee Ghat, Anta Ghat, BN College Ghat, Bankipore Ghat, unsafe for Chhath celebration and restricted the entry of devotees on these ghats.