The Jharkhand government authorized the religious ceremony on public water bodies for Chhath puja.
Ranchi:
The Jharkhand government on Tuesday authorized the congregation and religious ceremony on the banks of rivers, ponds and other public water bodies for Chhath puja, two days after banning the same due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren, however, urged worshipers to celebrate the Chhath festival in their homes as much as possible to avoid the risk of becoming infected with the coronavirus.
The government has been criticized by opposition parties after the National Disaster Management Committee issued a directive on Sunday evening saying no one would be allowed to congregate near water bodies during the Chhath festival.
The chief minister’s office said in a statement on Tuesday that the directive had been amended and worshipers are now allowed to hold Chhath puja on the shores of all types of water bodies outside of containment areas.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren said the coronavirus threat was not over yet and called on the state’s population to follow other COVID protocols such as maintaining social distancing and wearing masks while celebrating the festival in rivers, ponds and other bodies of water.
He requested the cooperation of the population in this regard.
However, the administration did not lift several of the measures listed in the directive, such as the explosion of firecrackers, the installation of stands and the holding of cultural programs near water bodies.
Earlier in the day, Soren chaired a meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority on the safe conduct of the festival amid the pandemic situation. The Minister of Disaster Management, Banna Gupta, attended the meeting.
At the meeting, the chief minister said that public sentiment is attached to the Chhath puja during which worshipers gather on the banks of rivers, ponds, dams and lakes in the morning and evening.
In such a situation, arrangements should be made to organize the festival safely, he said.
The BJP, which had criticized the government for banning congregation of worshipers near water bodies during the festival, welcomed the new decision.
“Finally, the state government has understood the public sentiment,” said BJP chairman Deepak Prakash.
The leaders of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the coalition partner Congress also urged the government to allow people to gather along the water bodies to celebrate the festival.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
