Devotees walk in a queue over a pontoon bridge at Collectorate Ghat in Patna on Thursday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

This Chhath was different.

Planning and effective implementation of directives made Chhath festivities a grand success for the administration this year.

Lakhs of devotees congregated at the ghats set up on the banks of Ganga. But meticulous planning ensured they had a hassle-free festival. The state machinery worked till the last devotee left the ghats on Thursday morning after offering the morning arghya.

Chhath devotees had started gathering at the ghats on Wednesday afternoon to offer evening arghya. By 4pm, when the rituals of Pehli Arghya (first obeisance to the Sun God) commenced, the ghats were packed with people. Teams from the district administration were on their toes to make things smoother for the devotees.

It was a pleasant surprise for many in comparison to earlier years when a stampede had occurred in 2012 and also on the Dussehra day this year.

Unlike previous years when the devotees were not guided by the administration, this year it was friendlier. From the start to the end, everything was well-planned.

Watchtowers, changing rooms, proper lighting, temporary toilets, public address system paging dos and don’ts and closed-circuit television cameras played a significant role in making the festival incident-free. Many children went missing from their parents but timely paging ensured their reunion with their families within minutes.

Posters and banners with useful messages were found in plenty to make devotees aware of the precautionary measures they should take on the riverbanks. After offering arghya, police directed people to cross the pontoon bridges at Collectorate and Mahendru ghats in batches. The purpose was to ensure no overloading on the temporary structure.

What made the festivity smoother and peaceful was the deployment of volunteers and police at every ghat. At every 100m, volunteers were deployed, including 300 Special Task Force and Bihar Military Police personnel, to act as a quick-control brigade.

Apart from normal traffic police, 800 additional traffic personnel were deployed.

Gandhi Maidan was used as a parking lot so that devotees going towards Collectorate Ghat, Mahendru Ghat and Kali Ghat could get clogged-free roads.

Even protocols were relaxed to give priority to safety. Patna district magistrate and senior superintendent of police, who are supposed to be part of the cavalcade of chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi if he is moving in the town, were seen doing supervisory works at the ghats when his cavalcade was on the go.

Chief minister Manjhi, too, had inspected the ghats on the Chhath day.

“The arrangements were foolproof. Hope it was not an exception for Chhath,” said Virendra Kumar, a Sabzi Bagh resident, whose seven-year-old son had gone missing at Mahendru Ghat but timely paging by the police ensured his reunion with the child.