151 ghats ready for Chhath Puja, Rabindra Sarobar and Subhas Sarobar off limits
Telegraph | 7 November 2024
Chhath Puja rituals will be performed on Thursday evening and Friday morning.
Over 150 ghats have been prepared with makeshift steps, additional lights and changing rooms, among other facilities. Many temporary ghats are ready for the Chhath rituals.
Rabindra Sarobar and Subhas Sarobar, two of Calcutta’s largest parks with water bodies, cannot be used for the rituals.
Metro lists what is allowed, what is not, the venues and the festival schedule.
Ghats
In all, 151 ghats have been equipped with facilities to perform the rituals. Some of these are temporary ghats — at tanks created on the ground or roads for the occasion — and many are permanent ghats.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has set up the facilities at 111 ghats and the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) has readied 40.
“There are 27 ghats along the Hooghly where the rituals can be performed. Besides, many small ponds have been converted into ghats for the occasion,” said a KMC official.
The KMDA has set up 40 ghats at 15 locations, mostly in south and southeast Calcutta, in places like Kasba, Nonadanga, Golf Garden, Regent Estate, Ruby, Patuli, Dhakuria and Tollygunge.
Hooghly ghats
A vast majority of people from north and central Calcutta, and many devotees from Garden Reach, prefer performing the rituals in the Hooghly, said a KMC official.
Some of the ghats along the Hooghly where the rituals will be allowed are Baja Kadamtala Ghat, Nimtala Ghat, Gwalior Ghat, Kumartuli Ghat, Bagbazar Ghat, Sovabazar Ghat, Mayer Ghat, PK Tagore Ghat, Takta Ghat and Bichali Ghat.
“Many people go down to the riverbank through places that have slopes. We will request the devotees to use only the designated ghats or ponds because we have made adequate arrangements for the rituals,” said the KMC official.
Cracker curb
Crackers cannot be burst on Thursday. A two-hour cracker window has been allowed on Friday — from 6am to 8am — when only green fireworks can be lit.
The state pollution control board (PCB) issued an order in October 2021 restricting the use of green crackers to two hours in the morning on Chhath. Calcutta High Court later asked the police to ensure that “only green crackers are burst during the festive season strictly in compliance with the directions of the Pollution Control Board”.
The PCB’s directions said: “there shall be a complete ban on the sale and bursting of all kinds of firecrackers, except green crackers” in Bengal. The board also specified that only green crackers can be burst “for two hours during Chhath Puja from 6am to 8am”.
Sound norms
A PCB official said “DJ music” has been banned. The expression “DJ music” refers to the use of multiple loudspeakers to amplify the noise. Earlier, there were reports of “DJ music” in processions by devotees or during rituals.
Sarobars closed
Rabindra Sarobar and Subhas Sarobar are closed to visitors from 8pm on Wednesday. “The gates will reopen at noon on Friday,” said a KMDA official.
The National Green Tribunal has prohibited religious rituals at Rabindra Sarobar and Subhas Sarobar.