M F AHMED
Daltonganj, Nov. 11: When the coronavirus arrived in 2020, no public celebration of Chhath has observed anywhere, but a euphoric scene was observed all-around in 2021. According to Palamu civil surgeon Anil Kumar, masks were distributed during the Chhath festival to the devotees to ensure their safety from the virus.
The CS said that never in the history of any festival such a preventive health measure was seen when face masks were offered and it was well accepted by the public too. He offered a face mask to a Chhath devotee who had a ‘daura’ on his head and he was kind enough to put it on his face.
Rapid antigen tests were also conducted at the Chhath ghats in Palamu.
“As our personnel tried to take the swab of a devotee, he shrugged off his hand but later he realized it was for his good that he offered himself for the swab test,” added the CS.
There were posters urging people not to ignore the dangers of Coronavirus.
The Divisional Commissioner Palamu, Jatashankar Choudhary and his family celebrated Chhath at the pond in their official residence here in Daltonganj.
SP Palamu Chandan Kumar Sinha and his wife Kanchan Singh had their Chhath at the Amanat river. Sources said the presence of the SP at the ghat further bolstered the security sense among the Chhath devotees there.
DC Palamu Shashi Ranjan took a detour of the Chhath ghats while DC Latehar Abu Imran spent time at the Chanakiya Nagri ghat with the local Latehar MLA Baidyanath Ram where the covid vaccination was going on.
A press note issued by the civil surgeon Latehar, Dr Haren Chandra Mahto read, ‘on November 10 Latehar conducted 1,920 vaccinations which included 922 second doses of the vaccine’. The single Covid-19 Tika express car did 50 vaccinations the same day at village Bulhu under the Chandwa block in Latehar district.
Manika Congress MLA Ramchander Singh inaugurated the Ganga Aarti at Barwadeeh in Latehar district which was a grand event. No Ganga Aarti was allowed in Daltonganj, said the SDO (sadar) Rajesh Kumar Sah. He said there were requests for it which were handled with politeness and firmness both citing the government’s order in this regard.
Amidst the joy and festivity of the festival, a tragedy occurred just a day ahead of Chhath when a Dalit family lost two sons to drowning in the river Koyal under the Nawa Bazar police station.
The Officer-in-charge of the Nawa Bazar police station, Lalji Yadav said two children below ten years had come to the grandmother’s house from Daltonganj to celebrate Chhath but they died by drowning.
A civil society activist and lawyer, Kishore Kumar Pandey has urged the district administration of Palamu to help the Dalit family.
Pandey said the family is economically weak and this tragedy has further weakened the family in the worst way.
The Hemant Soren government had recently given one lakh each to the seven families at Sheregarah panchayat in Balumath police station in Latehar district where 7 girls had died by drowning while immersing twigs of the Karma puja.
The same ex gratia relief should also be given to this Dalit family which lost two minor sons in one go of the tragedy, according to Pandey.
