Kumar Rajiv Nayan
Ara : Bhojpur district administration is busy in giving finishing touch to its preparations at all the ghats for Chhath festivities. Bhojpur DM Sanjeev Kumar and the SP Aditya Kumar held a meeting with all the officials concerned on November 12, 2018, to ensure a safe and peaceful Chhath Puja in the district. The two officials said that they had inspected all the ghats in district and directed the officials to ensure safety and facility to the devotees and also maintain law and order at any cost and added the ghats will be secured before the devotees arrive there for offering ‘arghya’ to the Sun god in the evening on November 13 and in the morning on November 14, 2018.
The DM and SP said Bhojpur district has 58 ghats of which the district administration has identified TB Sanatorium, Bahiara, Mahadevchak, Semaria ghats as dangerous due indiscriminate sand mining from river Sone in Koelwar and Chandi. They said a number of Close Circuit Television (CCTV) Cameras have been installed to maintain round the clock vigil on the ghats and videographers are also being deputed at many major ghats. They said Public address systems have been installed at all the major ghats besides bamboo barricading of major and dangerous ghats had been completed.
They stated that teams of NDRF with boats, inflated motorboat, life jackets and trained divers will do patrolling in the Ganga and Sone rivers and doctors, magistrates along with heavy police force have been deputed and added a control rooms has been established and important numbers will be displayed. They said sale, purchase and use of crackers at the ghat sites and ferrying of private boats in rivers has been banned. They said that static magistrates along with police force have been deputed at 92 vulnerable points and three flying squads have been formed to maintain law and order during the festival. The DM and the SP ordered for checking all the ghat sites with metal detectors before Arghya.