Altogether 138 ghats will be prepared across the city for Chhath Puja this year, Firhad Hakim, the chairperson of the board of administrators of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), said on Monday.
Chhath Puja will be celebrated on November 10.
The KMC and the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) will set up some temporary ghats at multiple ponds and natural water bodies in the city. The areas will be illuminated and wooden steps installed for devotees.
The KMC will create four temporary water bodies — brick enclosures that will be filled with water — where devotees can perform the Chhath rituals. One of the water bodies will be set up at Tridhara Sammilani near Deshapriya Park, one off Cornfield Road in Ballygunge and two in Tollygunge.
These ghats will serve as an alternative to Rabindra Sarobar, where devotees used to perform the rituals. The National Green Tribunal has banned religious activities at the Sarobar.
Besides these temporary arrangements, the KMDA has six permanent ghats near Fortis Hospital in Anandapur and one near Satyajit Ray Park in Patuli. There are about 30 ghats along the Hooghly where rituals are performed.
At a meeting held at the KMC headquarters on Monday, Hakim asked various departments to ensure that the roads leading to the ghats were repaired before Chhath Puja. “The navy will keep boats ready and make other arrangements for rescue operations, if required, at Hooghly ghats,” said an official.
“We have also asked the railways to not run circular rails during the evening of November 10 and morning of November 11," Hakim said. KMC officials said this was done since a large number of devotees cross the circular railway tracks to go the ghats along the Hooghly and return
