Patna: With the four-day Chhath beginning with ‘Nahay-khay’ (literally meaning having food after taking holy bath) on Tuesday, the preparation for the festivities is in its final stages.
Chhath vratis (devotees) will start thronging the riverbanks and other water bodies from Tuesday starting with the ‘Nahay-khay’ rituals when they clean their home, take a holy dip, preferably in sacred river Ganga, wear new cotton clothes before preparing rice, ‘chana’ (gram) dal and a bottle gourd side dish. ‘Nahay-khay’ on November 5 will be followed by ‘Kharna’ on Wednesday, evening ‘arghya’ (oblation to setting sun) on Thursday and morning ‘arghya’ (oblation to the rising sun) on Friday.

The administration has prepared 102 ghats, 63 ponds and 45 parks across the city, along with 550 other water bodies along Ganga and its tributaries in Patna district. Altogether, seven ghats have been earmarked as unsafe — TN Bannerjee, Mishri, Judges’, Adalat, Bahravo, Gubli and Karnalganj ghats, owing to low water level and swamp.
Five — LCT, Pahalwan, Rajapur Pul, Bans and Buddha ghats — have been declared “dangerous” due to steep slopes, high water depth and soil erosion. These ghats will be out of bounds for the devotees.
Patna district magistrate (DM) Chandrashekhar Singh, along with Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajiv Mishra, on Monday inspected several ghats, ponds and Patna Zoo. "Teams under subdivisional officers and magistrates have been tasked to survey the ghats and assess requirements to ensure the smooth conduct of festivities. For devotees' safety, temporary barricading is installed at the ghats, whilst Patna Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) sanitation workers are undertaking cleanliness drives along the Ganga riverbanks," Singh said.
The DM added they inspected Kacchi Talab in Gardanibagh and Patna Zoo, along with some ghats, where a large number of devotees gathered for the celebration. “Crowd management and ensuring hassle-free movement of people is the biggest challenge for the administration."
To ensure that the devotees do not cross the safety marks at ghats, workers were seen putting bamboo barricades, adorned with white and yellow cloths, measuring the water depth. Sandbags have been placed to prevent soil erosion, and cover mud and dirt, while all the roads leading to the ghats have been made motorable and decked with fancy lights.
Essential amenities like changing rooms (97), temporary toilets (512), urinals (450), taps (205), tankers (50), hand pumps (37) and yatri sheds (14) have been put up at different ghats. A total of 110 control rooms and 154 watch towers have been prepared.
To ensure smooth traffic flow towards ghats, 45 parking spaces have been created from Danapur to Didarganj. Besides, over 500 traffic cops have been deputed at ghats, along with national and state disaster response force teams, which will patrol the river.
As many as 52 fire vehicles, each manned by three firefighters, will be stationed at different ghats. Medical teams have also been designated, along with ambulances. Help desks and public announcement systems have been arranged for managing crowds. Besides, CCTV cameras and floodlights have been installed at ghats, while surveillance will also be made with the help of drones.
The DM said all officers would keep special vigil at sensitive places, take preventive and punitive action against anti-social elements, and ensure proper maintenance of law and order. “Speedy and strict action will be taken against rumour-mongers.”
He further said many people also perform Chhath on rooftops. “The administration will provide holy Gangajal to the families who perform Chhath at home or in parks. Tankers will be sent to various wards by PMC through which Gangajal will be made available to the people," Singh said.
The administration on Monday also launched a website and mobile application, ‘Chhath Puja Patna’ toprovide festival-related information.