Chhath Pooja: Massive Crowds Flood Delhi to Mumbai Stations as Travelers Head Home for Festival

The grand festival of Chhath, celebrated with deep faith, will commence tomorrow (Tuesday) with the Nahai-Khai ritual and continue for four days. The "Kharna" will take place on Wednesday, followed by the first "Arghya" on Thursday, concluding with the final offering on Friday morning. The ghats in Patna are expected to see heavy crowds during this period, prompting the district administration to prepare for a month. Recently, the water level of the Ganges had risen, but all ghats are now nearly ready. The district administration claims that Chhath will be celebrated at 550 ghats along the Ganges and its tributaries throughout Patna district. Preparations have been made at 102 ghats under the Patna Municipal Corporation, along with 45 parks and 63 ponds included for the celebrations. Special arrangements have been made at all ghats and ponds, with senior officials overseeing the preparations. There will be a total of 512 temporary toilets for devotees, 450 temporary urinals, and 185 drinking water taps, along with 50 water tankers and 37 hand pumps set up in various locations. For water supply, 20 submersible pumps and PVC tanks have been installed, and 355 temporary changing rooms have been created for Chhath devotees. Additionally, 14 waiting sheds, 97 control rooms for safety monitoring, and 13 auxiliary control rooms have been established. A total of 154 watchtowers have been constructed for surveillance. Teams from the SDRF and NDRF will be deployed during the festival. Eight teams from the NDRF, comprising 200 members, will be on duty, along with 14 teams from the SDRF, totaling 56 members. These teams will remain stationed in the river 24/7 from November 6 to the morning of November 8. Furthermore, 333 divers, 306 boats/crew members, and 168 civil defense volunteers will be on standby. River patrolling arrangements have also been made. The Patna District Magistrate has issued strict orders prohibiting any boat operations. This includes restrictions on people using boats for promotional activities. Any violation of this directive will result in action being taken.