Mohammad Khalil Shah in front of his shanty on the evening of Pehli Arghya. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, Nov. 9: Memories of the stampede in the narrow lane leading to Adalat Ghat last Chhath left it deserted and residents disappointed this time around.

“Us bhagdaud ne kewal 18 logon ki jaan hi nai li balki is barson purane Chhath ghat ko hi mar dala (The stampede didn’t kill just 18 people, but also an age-old Chhath ghat),” said Mohammad Khalil Shah (67).

Shah is one of the residents in the narrow lane — eight-foot-wide and 300-metrelong — leading to the Adalat Ghat on Ashok Rajpath. He lives in a makeshift shanty in the lane and could not have summed up the mood better.

On the evening of Pehli Arghya last year, a stampede occurred in the lane. The Telegraph on Friday visited the lane around the time of the prayers to the setting Sun.

A teary-eyed Shah said: “Chhath has always been important to me and my family like it is to any devotee performing the rituals. I have been living in this lane for the past 30 years and Chhath was that time of the year when this lane would come alive. We used to clean the street, cover the nalis (drains) and help the devotees on their way to the ghats. But look at it (the lane) now — it seems we have been kept away from the festival and our brothers and sisters who used to come in thousands.”

On Friday, when thousands of devotees were on their way to the Ganga ghats to offer Pehli Arghya, this narrow lane was deserted. The district administration prohibited Chhath rituals at the Adalat Ghat and entry to the lane was blocked with bamboo barricades.

Devotees in the area had to go to the adjacent Mahendru Ghat for the first time, as those living in the lane lamented the death-like silence. Incidentally, Adalat Ghat was originally called Mahendru.

Seventy-five-year-old Raj Ballabh Singh, whose house is located in front of Adalat Ghat, said on Friday: “Around the 1980s, its name was changed and the neighbouring ghat was named Mahendru. It is one of the earliest Chhath ghats and used to be one of the few in Patna with concrete steps. This is the first time I have seen Chhath puja not being allowed here. There is a strange and unusual silence here.”

The people living in the vicinity of the ghat demanded the ghat to be reopened next year.

Ajit Kumar who lives in the lane where the stampede occurred, said: “Even after the stampede on Pehli Arghya last year, people did go to the ghat the next morning. There was a huge presence of police though. Why didn’t the administration make similar arrangements this year as well, and keep the ghat open? The width at the entry point to the Collectorate Ghat or Kali Ghat is even less than that of the Adalat Ghat lane. The stampede was the result of administrative slackness and the common people should not suffer because of it. Adalat Ghat should be kept open next year.”