Guwahati’s Chhath Puja celebrations drew thousands of devotees to riverbank locations on Sunday, while the district administration, Guwahati Police, the State Disaster Response Force and puja organisers coordinated crowd-safety measures and traffic restrictions ahead of the larger Usha Arghya gathering on Monday.
Devotees from Assam and neighbouring Meghalaya took part in the Sandhya Arghya, the evening offering to the setting Sun. Worshippers gathered at riverfront sites across the city, including Lachit Ghat, to perform rituals and prepare for the early-morning offering to the rising Sun.
Vijaye Basfore, who attended the rituals at Lachit Ghat with his family, said organisers were expecting lakhs of people for the evening offering. The next phase of the festival, Usha Arghya, is scheduled for Monday and is expected to bring another large gathering to the city’s riverbanks.
The scale of the event has placed crowd movement and road access at the centre of the city’s operational response. Traffic restrictions were imposed on routes from Sunday to Monday as authorities sought to manage the movement of devotees, vehicles and pedestrians around the celebration areas. The report did not specify the individual roads affected or the timings of each restriction.
The arrangements involve several agencies with different responsibilities. The district administration is overseeing the wider civic response, Guwahati Police is managing traffic and public movement, and the State Disaster Response Force has been included in the safety planning. Puja organisers are also involved in crowd management at the celebration sites.
The coordination reflects the practical demands created by large religious gatherings in a riverfront city. Temporary increases in pedestrian movement require authorities to manage access routes, crowd density and emergency response while maintaining traffic circulation on surrounding roads. The use of riverbank locations also makes safety arrangements an important part of the event’s public administration.
Dispur MLA Pradyut Bordoloi, Sanskar Bharati (Uttar Assam Pranta) co-general secretary Himangshu Sarma and its ‘prachar pramukh’ Sailendra Pandey attended the rituals. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma extended festival greetings on social media, wishing people happiness, peace, prosperity and good health.
The next major public event linked to the celebrations will be the Usha Arghya on Monday. Authorities and organisers are expected to continue crowd-management, safety and traffic-control arrangements through the period covered by the restrictions.
