Kolkata: Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said on Saturday that Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) with the assistance of Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) has made all arrangements for the smooth observance of Chhath Puja on November 19 and 20.
Both Rabindra Sarobar and Subhas Sarobar will be kept out of bounds for Chaath Puja revellers with the administration making arrangements at 181 ghats across the city where rituals can be performed.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is slated to inaugurate Chhath Puja at Takta Ghat on Sunday late afternoon.
Notices have been put up at all the gates of both Rabindra Sarobar and Subhas Sarobar declaring that entry inside the premises will be barred from Saturday midnight till 12 noon on Monday.
No persons including morning walkers will be allowed to enter the premises during this period.
“We will start barricading all the probable places where boundary walls can be breached to reach upto the two waterbodies with bamboo and corrugated sheet fencing from Saturday midnight. There will be sufficient police deployment at all the gates. We have taken all measures to strictly implement the order of the National Green Tribunal that had disallowed Puja at these two places, on pollution grounds,” a senior KMDA official said.
KMC has come up with 111 ghats, including 23 nearby Rabindra Sarobar in areas like Kidderpore, EM Bypass, Tollygunge, Tollygunge Phari etc. while KMDA made arrangements for performing Chhath Puja in 42 ghats.
The existing 28 ghats along River Hooghly will also be available for the rituals.
“There will be facilities for ladies’ changing rooms, adequate lights, drinking water facilities and 100 bio-toilets in and around the ghats,” Hakim said.
There will be elaborate security arrangements at all the ghats with the disaster management group (DMG) of Kolkata Police and the rescue team from Kolkata Municipal Corporation at all the ghats.
There will be a disaster management team of the Navy at the ghats under their jurisdiction.
Wooden or ply platform has been set up at the temporary ghats and arrangements will be such that the Chhath Puja revellers cannot go beyond chest-deep water to ensure safety.
“Hardly any devotee turned up at the two lakes for observing Chhath Puja in the last two years which shows that people have become conscious about environmental issues,” the KMDA official said.