Kolkata Municipal Corporation is preparing 163 ghats across Kolkata and Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority areas for Chhath Puja, while introducing a QR-code guide to help devotees locate ghats, plan routes and access information about emergency services.
The QR facility will provide location details, directions and other essential information through a mobile phone scan. The civic body has expanded its preparations after a stampede at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Puja mandap, in which 19 people died, prompting greater attention to safety arrangements for public festivals, according to the report by Anandabazar – Kolkata.
Of the 163 ghats being prepared across the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and KMDA areas, 124 fall under the civic body’s 16 boroughs. These include 30 ghats along the Hooghly, two along the Adi Ganga, 86 at ponds or other water bodies and six at artificial water bodies. In the KMDA area, 24 permanent and 15 temporary ghats are being arranged.
The civic body has divided responsibilities among its departments. The water supply department will arrange additional drinking water and water tankers during the early hours of 15 and 16 November. Roads leading to the ghats will be cleaned and washed by health department workers to support devotees who travel by performing dandis.
Medical teams, including doctors, ambulances and first-aid facilities, will be available at six major ghats. The civic body’s Uttaran Services department is installing bio-toilets at the ghats and other important nearby locations, while the disaster management department is overseeing safety arrangements.
Professional divers will be deployed at Hooghly River ghats and large water bodies. Civil Defence volunteers will also be stationed at the sites, wearing special jackets carrying the municipal corporation’s logo. The lighting department is responsible for illumination at the ghats and approach roads, as well as public-awareness announcements through loudspeakers.
The civic body’s civil and roads departments have begun repairing routes leading to the ghats. The municipal secretariat department is arranging entrance arches and banners, and is preparing separate changing rooms for women. These facilities are part of a wider effort to manage large gatherings through route information, basic services, emergency response and site-level coordination.
Post-festival clean-up arrangements will cover both ritual material and general waste. The Parks and Squares and ghats departments will remove flowers and puja materials from the water immediately after the festival. Solid waste management workers will collect rubbish and send it to the Dhapa dumping ground.
The preparations place Kolkata’s Chhath arrangements across multiple civic functions, including water access, road maintenance, medical response, rescue operations, sanitation, lighting and waste removal. The municipal corporation’s stated objective is to complete the festival with coordinated safety and public-service arrangements across the designated ghats.
