Delhi’s Munak Canal is set to receive an 11-kilometre Chhath ghat, with the facility being inaugurated near Singalpur village in Shalimar Bagh on Thursday. The development includes steps, roads, lighting, sanitation and safety arrangements along both banks of the canal for devotees attending Chhath Puja.
Bharatiya Janata Party national president Nitin Nabin is scheduled to inaugurate the ghat. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Union minister of state Harsh Malhotra are also expected to attend the programme. The facility will be used for Chhath celebrations across the entire 11-kilometre stretch this year.
According to the report, the Munak Canal had remained neglected for nearly two decades before being taken up for improvement over the past year. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said around 1,400 truckloads of debris and waste were removed during the cleaning work. The work was carried out along both sides of the canal to prepare the site for public use during the festival.
The facilities being developed for devotees include permanent steps and roads, changing rooms, toilets, lighting, tents, CCTV cameras and seating benches. Landscaping, greenery and beautification work are also part of the development. The arrangements are intended to support large gatherings in areas connected to Shalimar Bagh, Wazirpur, Model Town, Adarsh Nagar and Badli, where thousands of families are expected to benefit from the new ghat.
The site is also proposed to be developed in the future as a place for recreation and walking, although the report does not provide a separate timeline or implementation plan for that expansion. For the immediate festival arrangements, the focus remains on access, sanitation, lighting and crowd safety along the canal edge.
Preparations at other Chhath sites in Delhi were reviewed on Wednesday by Public Works and Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Pravesh Verma at Hathi Ghat near ITO. He inspected cleanliness, basic facilities and security arrangements and issued directions to officials. The review covered arrangements at the Yamuna-side site as well as the wider citywide preparations.
Delhi has 1,482 Chhath ghats at 996 locations, according to the report. Of these, 81 are permanent ghats at 53 locations, 1,372 are temporary ghats at 914 locations, and 29 are located along the Yamuna at 29 sites. A total of 155 assignments related to the preparations have been given to 74 agencies. The Munak Canal facility will add a substantial continuous stretch to the city’s available spaces for Chhath worship, with the inauguration marking the next official milestone for the site.
