The Gaya district administration has introduced a coordinated safety plan for Chhath Puja, deploying deep-water barricades, drones, CCTV cameras, watchtowers, rescue teams and medical camps at water bodies across the district as large crowds of devotees are expected at the ghats.
The measures were reviewed during a joint briefing on Saturday by district magistrate Shashank Shubhankar and senior superintendent of police Sushil Kumar. They directed magistrates and police personnel assigned to the festival to prioritise water safety and crowd management at rivers, ponds and reservoirs.
Barricades have been installed to prevent devotees from entering deep water. Shubhankar instructed police personnel to intervene proactively so that devotees offer arghya only within designated limits. The arrangement is intended to keep people away from unsafe sections of the water bodies while maintaining access to the ritual areas.
Major ghats have been equipped with watchtowers, CCTV cameras and drone cameras to monitor crowd movement and identify safety concerns. The administration has also divided urban Chhath ghats into 10 zones, with each zone placed under the supervision of a senior official.
State Disaster Response Force teams and local divers have been deployed at major ghats. Control rooms and medical camps have also been established as part of the emergency response arrangements. The administration has identified separate entry and exit routes at the ghats to reduce overcrowding and prevent stampede-like situations.
The police have been directed to provide assistance to elderly devotees using steep stairways, an issue that can become difficult to manage when large numbers of people arrive at the same time. Police personnel have also been instructed to temporarily halt crowd movement at railway crossings when trains pass.
The measures place water safety, surveillance and movement control at the centre of the district’s festival arrangements. They also require coordination between the district administration, police, rescue teams, medical personnel and officials supervising the 10 designated urban zones.
The administration’s next steps are the continued deployment of personnel and operation of surveillance, control-room, rescue and medical arrangements at major ghats during the Chhath period.
