Delhi CM Rekha Gupta Announces Withdrawal of 2021 FIRs Against Chhath Devotees
Government to drop cases filed for performing rituals at Yamuna banks during previous regime; 17 major ghats being developed across the city for upcoming Chhath Puja.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta today said that the present government has decided to withdraw FIRs and cases that had been registered against Chhath devotees during 2021, over going to the Yamuna for performing Chhath rituals.
According to Gupta, these Chhath devotees had been booked during the previous government's tenure in the year 2021, for performing Chhath Puja on the banks of the river Yamuna.
She said that her government has decided to withdraw all such cases that were filed against those devotees under charges of public disobedience, as they had gone to the Yamuna banks to celebrate Chhath. The Chief Minister made this announcement while briefing the media on the Chhath preparations that are being done by the government for the upcoming festivities.
In the year 2021, the Chhath Puja celebrations at the Yamuna were prohibited by the administration, however, people had reportedly reached the river banks to perform rituals. “Just as Delhi made history this Diwali by hosting a spectacular drone show and Deepotsav at Kartavya Path, this year’s Chhath Puja will also be both divine and grand,”
According to the CM, the city is no longer just the political capital of the country, but is fast becoming the capital of faith. "The same devotion with which people lit diyas on Diwali will now shine on the banks of the Yamuna as they offer prayers to the Sun God," she stated.
CM has shared that starting from Palla village to Kalindi Kunj, 17 major ghats are being developed along the Yamuna river, each ranging from half a kilometre to one and a half kilometres in length, depending on the local population. Every district and sub-division will also have at least one model ghat to make it easier for devotees to perform the rituals, she added.
Meanwhile, Gupta today inspected the preparations for the Chhath at Sur Ghat in Wazirabad, and the ghats being constructed along the Munak Canal from Prembari Bridge to the AYU Block in North Delhi. During the inspection, she was accompanied by Minister Kapil Mishra, MLA Abhay Verma, and senior officials from the departments concerned.