New Delhi: At the Okhla Barrage on Thursday, Kalindi Kunj Ghat was bereft of devotees who usually throng the riverside for Chhath Puja. On Wednesday, Delhi High Court had denied permission for Chhath rituals in the Yamuna, warning that its foamy, polluted water was injurious to health. However, on the opposite side of the murky stretch, the riverbank falling in Uttar Pradesh was like a fairground, with thousands of devotees marking the third day of Chhath with prayers and offerings to the setting sun.
Thankfully for the Yamuna, Okhla was an aberration. Elsewhere in the city, including at Geeta Ghat, Wazirabad Yamuna Ghat, Sonia Vihar, etc., TOI found people, many of whom had fasted for 36 hours, thronging artificial canals for the four-day festival.
Smita Pandey, homemaker and Dwarka resident and a native of Madhubani in Bihar, explained, "The first day of the puja, which was on Tuesday, is called Nahay Khay, when we pray at home and prepare satvik food. This is a process of spiritual and physical purification. The second day is called Kharna, when baskets are decorated and filled with offerings. On the third day, we carry these baskets to waterbodies and pray to the setting sun. On the fourth and final day, we pray to the rising sun."
At the Sonia Vihar ghat, Suraj Kumar was happy with the arrangements made by Delhi govt and district administration for the puja. "Last year, I returned to my village in Buxar for the festival. This year, due to my new job, I couldn't go home. In 2022 too, I observed the festival in Delhi with my uncle's family. We had offered Argh in the Yamuna at Wazirabad Ghat, but entry to the river was restricted this year. That didn't matter because the arrangements made were good."
An MCD official claimed that fogging and anti-larvae measures were taken at the 1,052 ponds in the city where the puja rites were observed.
Many devotees confided that they would have preferred the Yamuna or a natural pond, describing the artificial ponds as jugaad. "I would say it's a failure of govt that the river is more polluted than it earlier was. What's the use of living in mega cities when we can't even celebrate our festivals properly because of polluted natural resources?" asked Ashok Kumar Dubey, originally of UP's Jaunpur but now a resident of Sonia Vihar.