A woman dumps waste into the river at Krishna Ghat on Friday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

The all too-familiar stench and squalor were back after witnessing spick and span ghats for Chhath festivities.

The biggest festival of the state concluded on Thursday and the ghats that had been cleaned were full of filth a day after. Used puja material lay strewn at most of the places.

When The Telegraph had visited Gandhi Ghat, Krishna Ghat and Kali Ghat after 2pm on Thursday, it had found plastic cups, torn clothes, diyas, half-burnt incense sticks and other material scattered about.

The Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) officials, however, said they could not be held responsible for the mess.

They said sanitation workers of the civic body worked till late evening on the day of the first arghya (third day of Chhath) and as they were on leave on Thursday, PMC could not get the ghats cleaned.

On why the PMC could not get the ghats cleaned even on Friday, Shailesh Kumar, executive officer, Bankipore circle said: “After Chhath, we shifted our focus to ward related works. So, we could not get the ghats cleaned today (Friday). Anyway, we need more labourers to get ghats cleaned properly as a lot of filth has accumulated. People have dumped a lot of garbage at the ghats.”

“Around 25,000 devotees had turned up at Gandhi Ghat. As you can see, the ghat has not been cleaned today (Thursday). The devotees have left behind used puja material in a huge quantity, which needs to be cleaned,” said Surya Prakash, canteen manager, MV Ganga Vihar, (the floating restaurant run by the tourism department).

Prakash added that devotees were asked many times not to leave their puja material on the ghat but they did not pay heed.

Some devotees, however, were not serious about the hygiene factor.

Vibhuti Bhushan Sharma, a businessman and a resident of Hanuman Nagar, seemed concerned about the river and not the cleanliness around the ghat.

“These days, the government talks about keeping the river clean. Devotees have not dumped puja material in the river. Rather they chose to put it on the ghat. We should be more serious about drain water and industrial waste being discharged into the river. As far as filth in the ghat is concerned, it can be cleaned anytime. Only a little effort is required from the residents,” said Sharma, at Krishna Ghat.

Sunita Devi, a resident of Ganesh Dutt Road, said: “People should not leave puja material on the ghat. If the material touches our feet, it can bring misfortune on us.”

Nibha Gupta (40), another resident who visited Kali Ghat, said: “Around 70 per cent of devotees who observe the festival at the different ghats here in Patna come from rural background. They don’t have much knowledge about sanitation related problems. So after their puja, they leave their used materials on the ghat.”

Shailesh also blamed residents for spreading filth at ghats.

“The sanitation workers worked till late night on Wednesday after the pehli arghya. You can see filth all around the ghats and roads today (Thursday). This is because devotees, their relatives and other residents littered the road in the morning today. Residents are themselves responsible for the dirt. What can PMC do if residents keep on littering the areas?” asked Shailesh.

He added that sanitation workers of PMC get leaves only on selected days like Holi and the fourth day of Chhath.