This story is from October 14, 2019

West Bengal government scouts for lakes to shift Chhath from Hooghly

The state government has started scouting for waterbodies in and around the city, like at Nonadanga and Patuli, where they can shift the Chhath rituals from the Hooghly in near future. The initiative came after the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) put a blanket ban on religious rituals that pollute the Ganga and its tributaries.
West Bengal government scouts for lakes to shift Chhath from Hooghly
A waterbody at Patuli and one near a hospital off Bypass are among the 5 new Chhath sites
KOLKATA: The state government has started scouting for waterbodies in and around the city, like at Nonadanga and Patuli, where they can shift the Chhath rituals from the Hooghly in near future. The initiative came after the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) put a blanket ban on religious rituals that pollute the Ganga and its tributaries.
“The NMCG has prohibited any ritual, such as immersion of idols and offerings, in the Ganga.
As a result, we have started identifying waterbodies, where Chhath devotes can worship without hassles in near future,” said a senior state government official.
Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), custodian of Rabindra Sarobar, has already decided to keep the Lake shut for 24 hours on November 2 to prevent Chhath devotees to converge on the green zone, as they do every year, in spite of an NGT prohibition there. All the 17 gates at the Lake will be closed and heavily guarded by police so that no devotee cannot sneak in. But at the same time, the authorities have earmarked five waterbodies in and around the city, where they are making arrangements for the devotees to perform their rituals. From October 18, the KMDA will start a campaign, telling people about those alternative sites. Both police and KMDA are looking to ensure 100% compliance to the NGT ban on rituals at the Lake. “To prevent a repeat of what happened the past two years, police will set up check posts 50m ahead of the main gates. We will have around 80 private guards, along with cops, manning each gate. As women turn up in large numbers, among the 177 guards to be deployed, 72 will be female,” the official said.
A police officer said the cops and guards would also ferry devotees turning up at the Lake to the alternative sites. “The Lake will have two layers of security. A control room will be set up next to Nazrul Mancha that will help monitor the scene. A force kept on reserve will be sent to the spot in case of any breach,” he said.
The five alternative sites are a waterbody in front of Fortis Hospital at Nonadanga, lakes at Patuli, Vikramgarh and Layalka and a water body at Nature Park near Taratala. Work has also begun for setting up of some basic amenities, such as mobile toilets, changing rooms, lights and ambulances, at the spots for smooth Chhath celebrations. Temporary sheds will be erected for devotees, who might want to stay the night near the ponds for the early-morning rites. Signages will also be put up on roads, directing devotees to the nearest waterbodies. An official pointed out this arrangement had been made mainly for south Kolkata devotees, as their counterparts in north, central and east Kolkata usually head to the Hooghly for the rituals.
Rastriya Bihari Samaj president Mani Prasad Singh thanked the government for being sympathetic to their problems. “We want full compliance of the NGT order. The state did not stop at enforcing the ban only. It gave us the solution to the problem.”
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA