BJP national president Nitin Nabin and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday inaugurated a Chhath ghat at the Munak Canal in Delhi ahead of the four-day Chhath festival, with Nabin praising the Delhi government for providing facilities to devotees and saying people from Purvanchal would no longer face obstacles in celebrating the festival in the national capital.

Source: ANI via Indian Economic Observer

The ghat runs for approximately 11 kilometres along the Munak Canal near Singalpur village in Shalimar Bagh, extending from the Outer Ring Road towards Inderlok, and is described as Delhi's longest Chhath ghat. Permanent steps are being developed on both sides of the canal, along with cemented roads to improve access for devotees.

Source: The Indian Witness

11 kmlength of the Munak Canal Chhath ghat
1,400 truckloadsgarbage and debris removed in the canal cleaning drive
1,400+Chhath ghats being prepared across Delhi, against 1,326 last year
Nov 13-16dates of the four-day Chhath festival

Facilities along the stretch

Facilities planned at the site include changing rooms, toilets, tents, adequate lighting and benches, with CCTV cameras installed for security and work under way on greenery, fountains and beautification, with special attention to facilities for women and elderly devotees. The project is expected to benefit thousands of families from neighbouring constituencies including Shalimar Bagh, Wazirpur, Model Town, Adarsh Nagar and Badli.

The Delhi Jal Board will release water from the Haiderpur Water Treatment Plant into the Munak Canal to ensure a clean and uninterrupted water supply during the festival, and officials have been directed to coordinate sanitation, accessibility and security arrangements. The development followed a major cleaning drive along the canal, in which approximately 1,400 truckloads of garbage, debris and accumulated waste were removed and encroachments along both banks were cleared.

What Nabin said

Addressing the gathering, Nabin credited Gupta with giving devotees a major facility, praised the cleanliness and purity of the canal water, and said that now that a BJP government is in power in Delhi, no one would be able to stop the people of Purvanchal from celebrating Chhath. He said the Delhi government was also working to clean the Yamuna under the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and alleged that the previous government had prioritised building a 'Sheesh Mahal' over public facilities — a political allegation by the BJP president.