Patna sets aside ₹19.34 crore to get 231 ghats ready for Chhath

Patna’s civic body has drawn up a ₹19.34 crore plan to get 231 ghats ready for Chhath, the festival when devotees stand in the Ganga and in ponds across the city to offer arghya to the setting and rising sun.

The Patna Municipal Corporation wants the work finished by 12 or 13 November. Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary may visit the ghats on 28 October to see how far it has got. Mayor Sita Sahu said looking after devotees was the corporation’s first priority. The ghat-by-ghat estimates set out how much each stretch of riverbank will get, from the Collectorate in the heart of the city to Kurji and Digha further west.

Where the money goes

Collectorate Ghat gets the biggest allocation at about ₹1.01 crore. Of that, ₹50.18 lakh is for improving the ghat itself, temporary barricades, sand filling and lights, and ₹50.17 lakh for parking, approach roads and more lighting.

Bansghat is down for ₹49.11 lakh, Mahendru Ghat for ₹48.67 lakh and the Digha 93 Number Ghat for ₹34.31 lakh, with Rajapur Pul Ghat and two more Digha ghats close to ₹28 lakh each. JP Setu Ghat, LCT Ghat, Kurji Ghat, Pahalwan Ghat, Patipul Ghat and Meenar Ghat each get between ₹22 lakh and ₹27 lakh. A further ₹21.91 lakh will pay for lights and parking on the routes that link Kurji to the riverbank.

Barricades, sand and signboards

Wooden poles will mark the safe edge along the ghats, and cloth barricades will close off stretches judged dangerous. Workers will spread sand over uneven ground, level the banks and add temporary ramps and drains where needed. Public toilets are to be repaired and cleaned, walls and railings painted and signboards put up to guide devotees.

Because not everyone can reach the river, the corporation is also building temporary ponds and ghats in parks and residential areas, with changing rooms in some parks. Executive officers of all six municipal circles have been told to watch the work and keep to the deadline.

Old city ghats

In the old city, the Patna City circle will prepare 27 ghats between Hiranand Ghat and Didarganj, executive officer Ashutosh Kumar said. The Azimabad circle is working on 26 more between Pathari Ghat and Keshav Rai Ghat, where soil is already being spread over muddy patches at Adarsh Ghat, according to assistant engineer Bhushan Kumar.

Five artificial ponds are being built for families far from the Ganga: at Mangal Talab, Karmalichak and Marufganj in the Patna City circle, and at Ranipur Paijawa and Mehandiganj in Azimabad.