Development Minister Gopal Rai, along with senior Delhi government officials, inspected preparations for Chhath Puja at ITO's Hathi Ghat here on Wednesday even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Opposition sought to take credit for these on the eve of the festival’s observance in the Capital.
Over 500 ghats
The government claims it has developed 565 Chhath ghats across the city which include 50 permanent ghats. The remaining are semi-pucca ghats which have been created for the convenience of devotees, he said at a press conference, adding that the government had allocated ₹20 crore in its budget for developing the Chhath ghats.
Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari and BJP leader Ravi Kishan, meanwhile, inspected the Chhath preparations at Sonia Vihar which is the largest Chhath Puja Ghat in Delhi.
“The reasonably good façade that we see today at Yamuna Ghats is the result of the hard work of EDMC staff and shramdaan done by BJP Poorvanchal Morcha workers apart from members of several Chhath Committees,” Mr. Tiwari said.
‘Govt fooling people’
Mr. Tiwari alleged that the Delhi government was “trying to befool the people” of the Capital by saying that it has spent ₹20 crore on the betterment of the Yamuna Ghats. “People very well know that government money has actually not been spent and it is the shramdaan of the people that led to better cleanliness at the ghats,” he added.