Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and BJP national president Nitin Nabin inaugurated an 11-km Chhath ghat along the Munak Canal in Shalimar Bagh on Thursday, alongside a road-widening project intended to improve access and reduce congestion in the area.
The Delhi government has revamped a previously dry stretch of the canal for Chhath Puja devotees. The upgraded site includes changing rooms, toilets, lighting, steps and other public amenities. Delhi Public Works Department Minister Parvesh Verma said the facilities would allow more than 30,000 people to gather at the site at one time.
The project has converted a stretch that officials described as neglected and affected by silt, garbage and foul smell. Verma said the canal area now has proper steps, lighting and a wider road, making it more suitable for public use during the festival. The arrangements are aimed at providing devotees with access to designated spaces rather than requiring them to use unsuitable or poorly maintained sections of the waterway.
Delhi Jal Board officials said water would be flushed from the Haiderpur Water Treatment Plant into the Munak Canal to provide clean water and an uninterrupted flow during Chhath Puja. The announcement links the festival arrangements to the operation of an existing water-treatment facility and the management of water flow in the canal.
Gupta said she would participate in the Chhath celebrations and that special arrangements had been made so families could observe the festival with dignity and convenience. She also said the government was working to decongest Delhi and was constructing a road connecting Shalimar Bagh to UER-2, which officials said would help reduce traffic congestion.
The inauguration was also marked by political criticism of the previous Aam Aadmi Party government. Nabin contrasted the new facilities with the BJP’s allegations surrounding the Flagstaff bungalow previously occupied by former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. He also criticised those who, according to him, had questioned Indian religious traditions and culture.
The immediate operational focus is now on maintaining the ghat, ensuring water flow from the Haiderpur plant and managing the expected gathering of devotees during Chhath Puja. The road-widening and Shalimar Bagh–UER-2 connectivity works remain part of the government’s broader effort to improve access and ease movement around the canal corridor.
