Delhi will mark the peak of Chhath Puja with a citywide day off. The Delhi government has declared Monday, November 16, a public holiday for Pratihar Shashthi, or Surya Shashthi (Chhath Puja), an official of the General Administration Department said on Tuesday.
Schools, colleges, government offices and the premises of autonomous bodies under the Delhi government will remain closed that day. The official notification says that November 16 "has been declared a public holiday across Delhi for all government offices, autonomous bodies, and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) on the occasion of Pratihar Shashthi or Surya Shashthi (Chhath Puja)."
The holiday also covers the civic bodies. Offices of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the New Delhi Municipal Council will observe it too.
More ghats than ever before
The holiday is only one part of a larger plan. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has said the government is preparing more than 1,400 Chhath ghats across the city this year. Last year there were 1,326. More ghats mean devotees have more places to offer arghya to the Sun God, and the crowds at popular riverbanks and ponds should be spread more evenly.
The most notable addition this year is an 11-km-long Chhath ghat along the Munak Canal. BJP President Nitin Nabin is scheduled to inaugurate it on Thursday. A continuous stretch of that length could give families across northwest Delhi a large, organised place for the rituals close to home.
Who is managing the arrangements
The government has set up a committee led by Art and Culture Minister Kapil Mishra to oversee preparations for the four-day festival, which begins on November 13. Its members are MLAs Abhay Kumar Verma, Chandan Kumar Chaudhary, Sandeep Sehrawat and Deepak Chaudhary, along with social worker Santosh Ojha.
The committee's responsibilities are long. It covers NOCs, drinking water, medical and ambulance services, fire safety, mobile toilets, security, traffic, sanitation, fogging and uninterrupted electricity at the ghats and venues. Each item addresses a real concern on Chhath days, when lakhs of devotees, many of them women observing a strict fast, gather at the water's edge before dawn and at dusk.
Why Chhath matters in Delhi
Chhath is closely tied to Delhi's Purvanchali community, which numbers about 40 lakh people from Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. For many families who cannot travel home during the festival season, the ghats in Delhi become their home for those four days.
Over the years, Chhath has grown from a community observance into one of the city's biggest public events. Each year it tests Delhi's ability to manage crowds, keep water bodies clean and get emergency services to where they are needed. The full holiday, the larger number of ghats and a dedicated oversight committee show how prominent the festival has become in the city.
For residents, the practical message is simple: plan for Monday, November 16 as a holiday. For devotees, the larger question is whether the 1,400-plus ghats will be ready and well run when the festival begins on November 13.
With inputs from IANS
