Surya Sarovar, one of the many reservoirs of the district, that will be part of the cleanliness drive. (Pankaj Singh)

It’s time for Chhath. It’s time to clean the ghats.

Bokaro steel plant’s town administration department has joined hands with the district administration to spruce up banks of rivers and ponds in the city and Chas Municipality area, where devotees will offer arghya to the sun god.

A series of meetings has already been held to discuss preparations for the cleanliness drive that will be carried out across 10 water reservoirs, Solagdih and Joriadih ponds, and five major ghats of Garga river, where more than 2 lakh Chhathvratis will flock to on November 1 and 2.

The 10 water reservoirs include Surya Sarovar, just opposite the administrative building, Surya Mandir pond at Sector IV-F, the tanks at Jaggannath temple and City Park, Cooling Pond at Vaisghali More and Rani Pokahar.

This apart, there are dozens of ghats dotting the long stretch of river Damodar.

Bokaro deputy commissioner Sunil Kumar on Thursday directed senior officials of Chas Municipality and sub-divisional officer Sudhir Ranjan to ensure that all the ghats, especially those falling on the stretch of more than 14km from Garga dam till Chira Chas, were properly cleaned.

Tenders have already been floated by the Bokaro district administration and Chas municipality for putting up barricades along Solagdih and Joriadih ponds and a few spots at Garga river.

The steel plant’s town administration department, which has the responsibility to clean the ghats and look after the lighting arrangements, has already started a cleanliness drive while several ghats have been repaired.

“We have earmarked the ghats where arghya is offered to the sun god by the devotees. Chhath is the main festival of the people of Bihar and Jharkhand. Almost all families celebrate this festival. Hence, the turnout at the ghats is huge. The district administration does not want to take any chance and is making adequate preparations to ensure safe and hassle-free celebrations,” said Bokaro deputy commissioner Sunil Kumar.

Chas SDO Ranjan said Bokaro Steel Limited, which has about 10-12 ghats under it, has almost finished preparations in the city. “However, some areas under Chas municipality are yet to be covered,” he added.

The DC has also asked officials to conduct cleanliness drive and adopt safety measures at Bermo, Nawadih, Petarwar, Kasmar, Gomia, Tenughat, Chandrapura and Chadankyari among other places.