RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Nov.9: Hattington pond which is popular as Hatania Talab will miss Governor Ramesh Bais this year on the occasion of Chhath as he will leave the Jharkhand capital tomorrow morning to participate in the governors’ conference in New Delhi.
Treasurer of Bhartiya Youth Sangathan MahaChhath Puja Samiti, Pramod Pathak, while monitoring cleanliness work of the pond, which is spread in over 1.5-acre area and a known destination for VVIPs to offer setting and rising sun on the occasion of Chhath, informed this.
“Barring the governor, who will leave tomorrow morning to participate in the governors’ conference, all prominent figures of the state including chief minister Hemant Soren and others are expected to visit the pond,” Pathak said.
Raj Bhawan sources confirmed this situation.
Asked how important the visit of the governor at the pond is, Pathak said: “Though Chhath is celebrated for a long time at this pond, our committee has been organising it in a proper manner since 1993. When Prabhat Kumar came here as the first governor he visited here with his better half. Since then the pond has witnessed the visit of the governor on the occasion of Chhath. Credit goes to former governor Kumar who played his role in the beautification of the pond.”
Explaining the preparedness, Pathak said, banks have been properly cleaned and barricading has been given in the pond to restrict movement of devotees beyond that as the pond has a sudden depth of 10 feet after a depth of 4 feet close to the bank.
Asked about the expected number, Pathak said: “VVIPs and VIPs from Indrapuri, Ratu Road, Deendayal Nagar and Kanke Road area turn up here. It is difficult to assess the crowd but it can be said getting space for offering Arghya often becomes a challenge here.”
A short visit to the pond close to Raj Bhawan and adjacent to Machhli Ghar and Nakshatra Van it was found the Ranchi Municipal Corporation has deputed sufficient numbers of labourers for cleanliness work. Proper arrangement of light and public address system is being done.
