Garbage littered at Deo Ghat in Gaya. Picture by Suman

Gaya, Oct. 28: Chhath begins in two days, but the condition of ghats along river Falgu is a cause of concern for devotees this year too.

Gaya Municipal Corporation (GMC) started cleaning the ghats, where the devotees would offer arghya to the Sun God next Tuesday evening and the following morning.

Devotees will still have to wade through polluted water, as sewerage from the houses along the bank flows into Falgu.

People throw garbage on the riverbed and the residents of slums (jhuggis) also use it to relieve themselves.

Falgu has ghats like Deo Ghat, Gajadhar Ghat, Pitamaheshwar Ghat, Brahmani Ghat, Sirhia Ghat and Kirani Ghat in Gaya town and Kendui Ghat on Gaya-Bodhgaya road near Kendui village.

The different ghats are littered with garbage and the sewerage water flows out into the riverbed. Devotees also perform pinddaan rituals at Suryakund during the 17-day-long Pitripaksh and throughout the year.

On chief minister Nitish Kumar’s direction, a team of Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) led by its president, Subhash Chandra Singh, had inspected Falgu on June 7 this year.

The team found that some portions of the river, including the parts at Panchayati Akhada and Deo Ghat, were being used as garbage dumping ground.

Moreover, polluted water from nine sewerages also flow into the Falgu.

GMC city commissioner Ram Ekbal Sharma told The Telegraph: “The garbage around the ghats has been removed using machines. We have deployed 100 daily wagers to maintain cleanliness at the ghats for four days from October 29. Sodium vapour lights at Suryakund pond and the high-mast light at Shankaracharya park will also be repaired before Chhath.”