Delhi Congress today urged Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and AAP government to ensure cleaning of unused canals passing through unauthorised colonies in the city for the benefit of people observing Chhath festival.
Senior Congress leader and former MLA Mukesh Sharma wrote to Jung after visiting the ghats at Hastsal and alleged that preparations there were inadequate.
The four-day festival, observed mainly by people from Bihar and easter Uttar Pradesh or Poorvanchalis, began today. On the last two days, people throng the ghats to make offering to the rising and the setting sun.
With Delhi municipal polls due next year, political parties are likely to woo this migrant community as they comprise a sizeable voting population.
Sharma said there are around 50 unused canals in Delhi out of which only 19 are used for irrigation purposes.
"Poorvanchal people live in large numbers in Delhi and therefore it was essential that these canals which pass through unauthorised colonies are cleaned up and filled with fresh water for Chhat puja," he said.
The senior Congress leader also complained of mounds of garbage lying around the ghats.
"Local Chhath committees were doing the cleaning up work at the ghats due to inaction by government agencies," he alleged, adding, "It was for the first time that there are no major preparations by the Delhi government and the MCD for the festival."
During inspection of the ghats, Sharma was accompanied by president of Uttar Pradesh-Bihar Development Committee Avdesh Tiwari and other puja committee officials.
In the letter, Sharma has also requested to the Lt Governor for ensuring speeding up of work by the city government, so that people could observe Chhath at Yamuna- Balaswa Lake and Hindon Cut Canal, as they have been doing in the past years.
"The administration should ensure that fresh water is released from Tajiawala Gate No 8before, so that all ghats gets fresh water," he said.
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