Click to play videoPatna: The Chatt pooja festivities in Bihar could be hit this year due to denial by authorities to offer prayers with a dip in the Ganga.
The water in the river is at an alarmingly high level and has made it very difficult for the authorities to keep away the devotees from thronging to the river.
Patna resident Sadhna Prasad has traditionally celebrated the Chatt pooja, on the banks of the holy Ganga, year after year. But this year things are different. The water-level in the Ganges is rising to a dangerous level. And people have been cautioned against entering the waters during Chatt.
"We come here to offer Chatt pooja every year. This time too, we are here to see what is the level of water here. It seems like the water levels are higher than normal," Sadhna said to CNN-IBN.
Lakhs of people gather on the banks of the Ganga to worship the rising sun on Chatt. In the past one week though, people have noted with alarm, the water level has risen by about three to four feet.
The District Official of Patna Jitendra Kumar said, "I would like to appeal to all people that wherever they feel the water level seems high on the banks of the Ganga, they should not go there."
Somepeople argue that the Ganga is the only river that flows through Patna and surrounding areas and people have traditionally offered prayers on its banks. For some people, old habits die hard.
A Chatt devotee Ashok Kumar said, "It is the administration's job to ensure all arrangements are in place. The Chatt will be observed, come what may, on these banks or another and none can stop us."
Devotees are angry that government officials have not offered to set up a safe zone where they can offer the pooja. As the water levels rise, so does the ire of the devotees.
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