District magistrate Dinesh Kumar inspects cleaning of Harahi tank in Darbhanga on Thursday. Telegraph picture

Ponds and other water bodies where Chhath rituals are performed would be cleaned up twice before the festival.

District magistrate Dinesh Kumar passed the directive after a recent inspection of ghats, which he found dirty. He has directed the civic body to take the help of civil society organisations to undertake the cleanliness work.

All ghats are being cleaned up now and would be cleaned up once more a fortnight later. The cleaning apart, the administration wants to ensure proper lighting at each ghat. On the security front, ghats perceived as dangerous would be barricaded with bamboos to avert any untoward incident.

Boats would be on standby at each ghat. Three motorboats would be deployed on the Adhwara group of rivers and Harahi tank, where thousands of devotees converge every year during Chhath. Divers, too, would man each ghat.

Dinesh said: “We stand for providing clean ghats to devotees and ensuring their safety.”

Darbhanga mayor Gauri Paswan said: “Our workers are engaged in sanitation work. We focus not only on government water bodies but also on private ponds. There are about two-dozen ponds and tanks in Darbhanga. We shall try to clean all of them.”

Mishra Tola resident Susheela Devi said: “If the administration’s move delivers desired results, it would come as a relief for devotees.”