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Rising water level in Ganga ahead of Chhat Puja alerts authorities | Ahead of the festival of Chhat Puja, which is celebrated in Bihar and some parts of Uttar Pradesh, the rising water level in River Ganga has forced civic authorities in Patna to take preventive measures. The festival is significant
for married women, who observe a two-day fast and offer prayers standing waist-deep
in water for at least two hours and offer fruits and flowers to Surya, the Sun
God. And the rising water level has prompted the civic authorities to undertake
construction of ponds at several places along the banks of the river. The ponds
will enable them to perform the rituals of Chhat Puja in those ponds instead of
the River Ganga. “We are digging ponds in every locality as the water level had
risen in River Ganga and it was deemed unsafe for the people to perform the rituals
there. But now, the water is receding slowly and keeping in mind the religious
sentiments of the people, we are also cleaning the Ganga ,” said Sudhakar Singh,
Executive Engineer of Patna Municipal Corporation. “If water level decreases further
then people might be able to perform the rituals there (in the river),” he added.
However, the proposal to prevent any untoward incident has not gone down well
with the devotees, who see it as a needless expenditure by the state Government.
“The importance of the festival lies in performing the rituals in Ganga . Instead
of digging ponds in several places, it would have been better had the Government
utilized that money to undertake the cleaning of the river, so that we can perform
the rituals there,” said Arun Kumar Singh, a local. People visit bathing ghats
on riverbanks during the festival to pay obeisance to the Sun God at dawn as well
as dusk, preferably just prior to the sunrise and sunset. The festival is celebrated
on the sixth and seventh days after Diwali, the festival of lights. |
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