Ahead of Chhath, Delhi civic bodies give over Rs 40 lakh to spruce up ghats

The austerity measures announced by the East civic body include stopping telephone reimbursement for officials, leave travel concessions and paid study leave for a year, among others.

A senior official of the North civic body said they have not allocated any particular budget for ghats under their jurisdiction, but the maintenance department will spend money on beautification and lighting, depending upon the requirement.

The mayors of the three civic bodies, councillors, and standing committee leaders are also conducting regular inspections, with the East body Mayor Bipin Bihari Singh scheduled to conduct an inspection of the ghats in Gandhinagar and Wazirabad on a steamer on Monday.

Mayor of the North civic body Adesh Gupta said he inspected various Chhath ghats in Nihal Vihar, Sector-3 in Rohini, Rithala Gaon, Shyam Ghat, Hanuman Chowk in Jagatpur and Bhalswa Lake on Sunday.

“Officials have been directed to create help desks at the Bhalswa lake and Jagatpur areas, as they have many ghats which attract devotees in large numbers,” Gupta said.

SDMC mayor Narender Chawla conducted an inspection last Friday.

The Purvanchali population is dominant in about 16 of the 70 Assembly seats in the capital, as per a survey by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS).

Major parties like the AAP, BJP and Congress had fielded many candidates from the community during the municipal body polls.