The historic Raja Talab of Jharia which used to serve as the epicentre of religious rituals and festivals in the coal town wore a different look during chhath this year. Besides the general decoration and lighting, the local residents of Jharia have also barricaded the dangerous pond sites with higher depth. This is due to ongoing beautification work of the pond being conducted by the Dhanbad Municipal Corporation since June this year at the cost of Rs 2 crore which has led to the development of uneven surface in the pond bed.

Notably, the beautification of ghats, installations of paver blocks all around the pond, setting up of concrete recliners as seating arrangement pond besides lighting around the pond are to be carried out by first desiltating the pond. Talking to The Telegraph Online today, Kali Prasad Singh, a local youth of Bhagatdih in Jharia who is also part of the management committee of the Jharia Rajbari Puja Committee, said, “The pond holds special significance for every Jharia resident whether they are living in Jharia or anywhere across the globe. Any function, including Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Diwali, and Chhath and Saraswati Puja are centred around the pond built by the former king of Jharia estate, Late Shiva Prasad Singh in 1920s.”

“The maximum rush during Chhath used to be on the Ghats of Raja Talab since several decades. Due to pollution, the interest of people decreased to some extent in the pond in the recent past,” said Singh and added that they had decided to barricade the dangerous sites on their own in pond using balloons although some barricading through bamboo has also been carried out by the district administration.

Anup Sao, former councillor of ward number 37 of Jharia said, “Though some cleaning work of the pond has been carried out ahead of Chhath due to the ongoing beautification of the pond the complete cleaning was not possible” and added that the progress of the pond beautification is also not satisfactory as only some cosmetic work is being carried out instead of a comprehensive measure to completely renovate and beautify the pond."

Vijay Keshri, a resident of Poddar Para locality of Jharia, said, “Our emotions are attached with the pond and thus we felt quite disgusted while offering arghya in Raja Talab pond due to incomplete cleaning work.”