Government formation can wait but not Chhath preparation.
This seems to be the message from chief minister Nitish Kumar, who today embarked on a steamer journey to assess the condition of the ghats in Patna for Chhath.
A number of devotees visit the ghats to offer arghya (obeisance) during Chhath.
The steamer journey started from Nasriganj in Digha in west Patna. Six teams of National Disaster Response Forces (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), along with divers, were also travelling on separate boats.
Accompanied by senior officials such as chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, DGP P.K. Thakur, Patna divisional commissioner Anand Kishore, the chief minister gave all necessary instructions to the officials concerned for the preparation.
While inspecting the ghats, Nitish asked officials concerned to deploy additional manpower, as there was hardly any time left for the festival. At many ghats, Nitish did not find any barricade at most of the ghats.
Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (Buidco) are carrying out the work on the ghats.
Calling PMC commissioner Jai Singh, BUIDCO managing director Narendra Kumar Singh, who were also present on the steamer, Nitish said: "Where is the barricading? If time is short you should put more men on job. There is hardly any time left for Chhath."
Chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh echoed the CM. "You have a lot of work to complete, you have no idea about the amount of work load," he told officials.
Initially, Nitish was sitting on the chair, however, 10 minutes into his journey, he came at the corner of the steamer to have a close look of the ghats. He expressed concern over the Ganga water flowing far from the ghats.
"Call the engineers and ask them to measure the depth of the water level at the ghats," Nitish asked WRD secretary Dipak Kumar Singh.
In between, Nitish also lost his cool while giving instructions to Buidco project manager Satyendra Kumar Singh after coming to know that he was not responsible for the execution of the work.
Expressing disappointment, Nitish said: "I am giving instructions but the person who is supposed to execute the work is not present. You are just hearing it, you should have brought the person along with you who will execute the project. How will you remember everything and then pass on the information to him?"
Travelling on the steamer of Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Nitish stressed that money would not be an issue as far as making the ghats safe for the devotees is concerned.
"Money shall not be an issue at all. If there is any problem, take it from the CMs fund," said Nitish.
Patna divisional commissioner Anand Kishore told Nitish that advertisements were also being published in newspapers regarding the Chhath ghats.
There was proper arrangement of light refreshment as well on the steamers and Nitish enjoyed the lemon tart dessert the most, apart from spring roll (vegetarian), dal pakoda and halwa followed by tea.
According to the schedule, the journey was supposed to end at Gai Ghat under Gandhi Setu in East Patna. However, as soon as Nitish reached there he expressed his desire to travel a little far and asked the officials to take the steamer ahead.
After 10 minutes of journey, Nitish wanted to return to Gai Ghat, before getting down from the steamer, Nitish briefed the media and said the administration is taking all measures for Chhath.
"This year, the Ganga has shifted leading to deeper river banks. Thus, compared to the previous year, the devotees would get less space for the festival. The distance between the barricading and the ghats would be less. However, directions have been issued to construct the artificial pond at the ghats so that devotees need not go deep in the water to offer arghya," said Nitish.
He added that proper lighting, facilities of changing rooms, toilets, water towers and public address system would be there at the ghats. The inspection ended at 2pm, after that he visited a few ghats near Kurji.
