Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday noticed heavy erosion near Kurji Ghat along the Ganga and directed his officials to keep a watch over it as well as initiate steps to address the situation.

Nitish’s directions came while he took a ferry ride for two hours on the Ganga from Nasriganj in Danapur to Gaighat in Patna City with his ministers and officials in tow to inspect the condition of ghats in the run-up to the four-day Chhath Puja dedicated to the Sun God that starts on November 11.

“Travelling downstream, the chief minister noticed heavy erosion beyond Kurji Ghat and pointed that this time it was more than the previous year. He asked the water resources department officials to keep a tab on the situation and initiate steps to tackle it,” an official present in Nitish’s entourage told The Telegraph.

The focus of the chief minister was to take stock of cleanliness, security and hygiene on the ghats at which people gather to perform various rituals.

Nitish, along with his cabinet colleagues energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav, road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav and disaster management minister Dinesh Chandra Yadav also pored over the map providing details of the river and ghats along it.

Directing the officials to ensure that the devotees coming to the Ganga ghats do not face any difficulty during the biggest festival of Bihar, Nitish said much more work is needed at Kurji and LCT ghats to make them ready for the festival.

“More earthmovers need to be deployed and work should be expedited. Proper dressing of the ghats is also necessary,” Nitish said and added that the officials should ensure a smooth slope at ghats that do not have stairs so that devotees could reach the river without any problem.

This time the district administration has decided that Chhath will be performed at 93 ghats between Danapur and Patna City, and are accordingly getting them readied.

Nitish asked the officials to ensure proper barricading on the ghats as per the water level there for the safety of the worshippers. The chief minister also pointed that lakhs of devotees converge at the ghats to perform rituals to appease the Sun God and care should be taken to provide smooth approach and exit facilities.

Normally, the chief minister reviews Chhath preparations in Patna twice. Today’s inspection was the first one for the festival this year.

Energy minister Bijendra told The Telegraph that his department will provide temporary connections at all the ghats for proper lighting, and the government will bear its cost.

Road construction minister Nand Kishore, who also happens to be the minister in-charge for Bihar, added that his department will ensure proper approach paths at the ghats where the Ganga has moved far away from the river bank. Pontoon bridges and makeshift bridges will also be installed to ensure proper movement of devotees from the ghats to the Ganga.

Patna mayor Sita Sahu, chief secretary Deepak Kumar, water resources principal secretary Tripurari Sharan, home department principal secretary Amir Subhani, road construction principal secretary Amrit Lal Meena, energy department principal secretary Pratyaya Amrit, urban development principal secretary Chaitanya Prasad and several others were present on the occasion.