Ranchi: Chhath is an ancient Hindu festival dedicated to the Sun (Surya Dev) and his sister Shashti Devi (Chhathi Maiya).
It is celebrated mostly in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Nepal.
On the evening and morning of the third and fourth day of Chhath Puja respectively, Arghya is offered to both the deities.
As the auspicious occasion arrives again this year, the preparations for it have begun across different states of the country, including Jharkhand.
While on one hand, Chhath Vratis are making preparations for the Nahay Khay and Kharna, on the other hand, people are capturing Chhath ghats for completing the ritual of Arghya.
In fact, the ghats are being captured illegally, as people are writing their names, addresses and mobile numbers on placards placed around their captured area.
This has made it difficult for common people to perform their rituals on the third and fourth day.
This loot of Chhath ghat in the name of faith and devotion has raised a lot of questions as cases of people selling their captured ghats have come into the light.
Several complaints in this matter have been registered so far.
According to sources, the capturing of Chhath ghats began soon after the ten-day-long Durga Puja marked its end on Dussehra.
Since the number of complaints came to a rise, the Municipal Corporation has fixed a penalty for it.
But due to lack of strict enforcement of the decisions, people continue to capture the ghats illegally.
While speaking to ETV Bharat, a local ward councillor said that people have been requested to not capture the ghats as it is posing a problem for other people.
The Deputy Mayor of Ranchi Sanjeev Vijayvarghiya has informed that last year too, such instances had been registered and members from the Municipal Corporation had erased the names and numbers of people from captured ghats.
"This year too, we have deployed a team for monitoring the situation and strict action will be taken if anyone is found capturing ghats across the city, he said.
Chhath is an occasion of nurturing the good in oneself. Only if people cooperate with each other and not use unfair means to complete their Puja will it bear fruit for them.
