Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has stepped up Chhath preparations at water bodies across the city in anticipation of the state government revising its guideline to ban puja in public in the wake of widespread protests across Jharkhand.

Sources said that in the event of non-revision of guidelines, RMC would require thousands of tankers and additional funds to ensure water was available for the festival across all wards. But mayor Asha Lakra maintained there was no time left to make any alternative arrangements and renewed her plea to the government to revoke the restrictions imposed because of the pandemic.

On Tuesday, she led a team of officials and inspected three water bodies - Dhurwa dam, Jagarnath talab and Suvernarekha ghat in Namkum - to supervise arrangements ahead of the festival.

“We will need hefty funds for making alternative arrangements for providing water to lakhs of devotees in their areas if the government ban continues on use of public ponds/rivers. But now we don’t have time to make those arrangements and neither do we have enough infrastructure. Had the guidelines come a month back, we could have made alternative arrangements by digging temporary dobhas/culverts in localities,” she told the media at Dhurwa.

She said the only option before the government now was to lift the ban in deference to largescale protests across the state. “RMC is hopeful of revised guidelines. Hence, without wasting time we are readying ghats by getting them cleaned and putting up barricades and setting up toilets,” said Lakra, who belongs to the Opposition BJP that is leading protests across the state since Monday.

Members of Ranchi Mahanagar Chhath Pooja Committee stage a dharna at Morabadi to protest against the state government's guidelines preventing puja at public water bodies in Ranchi on Tuesday. Picture by Manob Chowdhary

There are around three dozen water bodies across the city where Chhath is held every year. Most of them were nearly ready, said the mayor. “Soon after Dussehra we began cleaning water bodies. Basic sanitisation work is over in almost all places,” she said.

Around midnight on Sunday, the state government issued guidelines banning Chhath at rivers/ponds and other public water bodies in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Chief secretary Sukhdev Singh, in his order, maintained that since it would not be possible to maintain the national order of “do gaz ki doori (two feet social distancing)” while performing Chhath puja in public water bodies, it was being banned to minimise chances of a spread of the coronavirus.