Patna: Patna City residents set an example on Saturday when they visited Chhath ghats to clean it after Chhath, as garbage was left on the banks of the river.

Around 25 residents took the initiative to clean Jhauganj Ghat, Mirchai Ghat, Kangan Ghat and Hiranand Shah Ghat. These are among 60 ghats the district administration had marked as safe.

"Though it is the district administration's duty, it is our locality and we are the ones who visit these ghats regularly," said Munna Sharma of Patna City. "If we wait for Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) staff to clean the ghats, it could be too late. So, we took it upon ourselves to do it."

The residents removed clothes, fruits, wooden baskets and other things used by Chhath devotees that lay scattered across the ghat. They cleaned for around four hours, beginning 8am and have resolved to do their bit every day till the ghats are completely clean.

Sunny Yadav, another Patna City resident, claimed he took the initiative to clean the ghats influenced by the Namami Gange programme. "It is the duty of every citizen to keep the river Ganga clean," Sunny side. "If every person does his bit to keep the river clean, the Ganga would become the cleanest river in India. There is no harm in cleaning the ghats."

Manoj Yadav, Sachin Agarwal, Sanjeev Yadav, Amit Kanodiya, Rahul Sharma, Avtar Singh were among many of the other residents who stepped out to clean the ghats.

Patna divisional commissioner Anand Kishor appreciated their efforts. He said over 80 Chhath committees had pitched in during Chhath and it is people like them who make the state feel proud. "I know there are good people who do their duty without any expectations," Kishor said. "It is really worth appreciating that people have come out to clean the ghats after Chhath, a tough task. However, I have instructed PMC officials to clean the ghats as soon as possible. I must say no deadline has been set as the officials and staff are tired after being engaged in Chhath-related work in the past month."