Patna divisional commissioner Anand Kishor on Friday issued instructions to complete preparations for Chhath ghats by October 22.
He was talking at a meeting attended by Patna district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) commissioner Abhishek Singh and deputy inspector-general (central range) Rajesh Kumar and committees of different ghats.
Reminding authorities of the Adalatganj stampede incident of November 19, 2012, in which 17 people were killed, Kishor ordered Patna Electric Supply Undertaking (Pesu) to inspect all ghats and fix all naked, loose or hanging wires. 'Work should be completed in the next 10 days,' he said.
It was decided that work on each ghat would be carried out by separate contractors instead of one contractor doing the entire work and delaying it. The Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Limited (BRPNNL) was instructed to submit a report regarding requirement of pontoon bridge by Saturday.
The 101 ghats have been divided among Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (BUIDCO), PMC and Danapur Nagar Parishad. BUIDCO is responsible for 36 ghats, PMC 60 and Danapur Nagar Parishad five. Kishor said Chhath committees can only partner but cannot be involved in execution of work.
All nodal officers of 21 teams formed by the Patna DM were asked to submit the scope of work in the next three days. 'Everyone has to understand one thing - tragedies should not happen again.Ghat related work must be completed by October 22,' Kishor said.
The Patna divisional commissioner expressed his disappointment over last year's preparation by the public health and engineering department (PHED), responsible for arranging toilet and drinking water facilities.
'Chhath is mainly observed by the women, so it is a sensitive matter. I have come to know that last year toilets were covered by just a plain cloth. Even its height was less. I must tell PHED officers to ensure a dark double-layered cloth and height,' Kishor said. He also said there should be at least one western-styled toilet in each ghat.
On coming to know that building construction department executive engineers of Patna City and Danapur area have not yet invited tenders for changing room, control room and watch towers, he asked for stopping their pay and sought an explanation within two days for reason of delay.
Security arrangement at ghats was also discussed at large especially the barricading in the Ganga. BUIDCO and PMC were instructed that the maximum distance between two pillars should not be more than three feet and a three-layered horizontal and vertical barricading, including cross barricading.
It was also ordered that barricading must be visible two feet above the water level. A list of dangerous ghats and safe ghats would be announced by October 20, 2017.
Ghat-wise communication plan with contact details of the magistrate, doctor, police and officials of department concerned should be circulated among officials deployed on duty.
A public address system should be there in such a way that the announcement can be heard not only at ghats but the approach roads as well.
PMCH and NMCH were instructed to submit names of 20 doctors each to Patna civil surgeon G.S. Singh. PMCH and NMCH were also ordered to reserve 30 beds each for any emergency situation during Chhath.
Sub-divisional officers were asked to impose prohibitory order of Section 144 CrPc to ban firecrackers on the ghats. Installation of closed-circuit television cameras will also take place at important and big ghats for the purpose of monitoring.
The Collectorate Ghat approach road and repairing of approach road between Collectorate Ghat and Bans Ghatshould be completed by October 12.
DIG (central range) Rakesh said law and order would be maintained and a quick response team would be deployed in the city apart from women police in plain clothes to check eve-teasing.
Agarwal stressed on patrolling by boat by the teams of national disaster response force (NDRF) and state disaster response force (SDRF) in the Ganga. He also said a mobile application called Chhath Puja Patna that was functional last year would be updated soon. Residents can then get information about facilities available at the ghats, like parking place and distance from there to the ghats.
BUIDCO managing director Amrendra Kumar Singh and Patna traffic SP P.K. Das was also present apart from city SP (central) D. Amarkesh and city SP (east) Vishal Sharma.
