Jamshedpur: Durga Puja organising committees in Jamshedpur have expressed concerns over poor infrastructure and lack of hygiene at the prominent idol immersion ghats across Steel City.An 11-member team of Central Durga Puja Committee (CDPC) inspected key immersion ghats on Sunday and found several of them littered with garbage. Approach roads and pathways to the riverbanks were also in a dilapidated state.The team spotted heaps of waste, including puja materials left behind after Ganesh Puja and Vishwakarma Puja immersions. Ghats at Bhuiyandih, Pandey Ghat, Domuhani, Bodhanwala Ghat and other points along Subarnarekha and Kharkhai rivers were found strewn with trash. “At many places, water hyacinth has spread across the rivers,” said Lalan Yadav, general secretary of CDPC.On Monday, CDPC members said a delegation will meet East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Rajiv Ranjan later this week and urge him to launch a clean-up drive so that the ghats are restored before Navratri.They also flagged safety concerns, saying damaged roads leading to immersion sites could pose risks to vehicles and devotees during the festival. “We request corporate companies operating nearby to help repair roads and narrow stretches leading to the riverbanks through their corporate social responsibility funds,” said Ashish Gupta, senior vice-president of CDPC.At separate meetings held in Kadma and Tinplate, representatives of over 70 puja committees under Kendriya Durga Puja Samiti (KDPS) raised concerns over inadequate lighting at several immersion ghats.“We will identify the ghats that lacked proper lighting last year and submit a report to the district administration within a couple of days for timely action,” said Ashutosh Singh, general secretary of KDPS.Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee municipal commissioner Yogendra Prasad said dedicated sanitation teams have been formed and large-scale cleaning of immersion ghats will begin shortly.
