Guwahati, Oct. 28: The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Chhath Puja may have no connection but the countrywide cleanliness campaign has encouraged devotees to clear the waste on the bank of the Brahmaputra after the annual festival.

“We have already cleaned up the Brahmaputra bank at Kasomari ghat here for the puja and we will make sure the waste is not left behind after the puja on Thursday. We will clean the river bank ourselves. People across the country have joined the Swachh Bharat campaign and we will also make sure the bank is cleaned up properly soon after the festival,” secretary of Yuva Bharati Sangh, Suraj Tiwari, told The Telegraph, here today.

The organisation has set up a pandal, bamboo barricades and will deploy about 200 security guards and 30 CCTV cameras as security measures for the festival. They have also hired Ranjan Raj, a popular Bhojpuri singer in Bihar, for a cultural night on the bank of the Brahmaputra tomorrow.

Chhath, the festival to worship the sun is a major festival in states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. Thousands across Assam celebrate it too. In Guwahati, hundreds congregate on the bank of the Brahmaputra at Fancy Bazar, Noonmati, Soonsali and Maligaon here while Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Jorhat in Upper Assam and Dhubri and Bongaigaon in lower Assam, too, witness celebration of the festival with elaborate arrangements.

The promise to clean the river bank assumes importance in view of the fact that waste generated during the festival is left behind every year and even dumped into the river.

As a precautionary measure, the Kamrup (metro) district administration has prohibited any congregation at Kachari and Panbazar ghats in order to avoid drowning incidents. “The stretch from Kachari to Panbazar has about 25-30feet deep water with strong currents. So, this stretch has been declared a prohibited area this time,” a source in the district administration office, said.

The rituals of Chhath Puja began yesterday, while people will congregate on the riverbank tomorrow and on Thursday morning. The devotees, mostly women, observe a fast to worship the sun with fruits and other offerings.

President of Sarva Hindustani Yuva Parishad, Shankar Singh, requested the Assam government today to declare a holiday on the occasion of Chhath Puja like in some other states. “Not only Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, Delhi has also declared a holiday this year and we request the Assam government to do the same,” he said.

Police said CRPF and police personnel would keep vigil on the ghats, while the committees organising the puja have been asked to deploy private guards for smooth conduct of the prayers. Traffic police will impose restriction on vehicle movement in some routes here to reduce the inconvenience to devotees and ensure smooth conduct of the festival.

Golaghat move: Deputy commissioner of Golaghat, Nitin Khade, has opened an official Facebook account to share updates, photos and videos of the clean and green Assam campaign to inspire people to keep their surroundings clean, writes Ritupallab Saikia.

Khade decided to open the account after agreeing to a suggestion by Abhishek Boney Singha, founder of All & Sundry, a local NGO. He said the district administration would take out a padayatra on Thursday from the parade ground in Golagahat, followed by street plays and cultural events. The aim of the padyatra is to sensitise the people about keeping their surroundings clean.

He said that from now it would be compulsory for shopkeepers to keep a dustbin in front of their business establishments.