New Delhi. The Delhi government has declared November 16 as a public holiday on the occasion of Pratihar Shashthi or Surya Shashthi (Chhath Puja). An official gave this information on Tuesday.
An official of the General Administration Department said that schools, colleges, government offices and premises of autonomous bodies under the Delhi government will remain closed on that day.
“November 16 on the occasion of Pratihar Shashthi or Surya Shashthi (Chhath Puja) has been declared a public holiday for all government offices, autonomous bodies and public sector undertakings (PSUs) across Delhi,” the official notification said.
The official said that there will be a Chhath holiday in the offices of municipal agencies Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) next Monday.
Earlier, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had told that the state government is preparing more than 1,400 Chhath Ghats in the city this year. Last year, the total number of Chhath Ghats in Delhi was 1,326. On Thursday, BJP President Nitin Naveen will inaugurate Delhi's 11 km long Chhath Ghat along the Munak Canal.
Earlier, the Delhi government had formed a committee under the chairmanship of Art and Culture Minister Kapil Mishra to oversee the preparations for the four-day Chhath festival starting from November 13.
The festival is quite popular among the 40 lakh Purvanchali community living in the city. The Chhath Puja committee led by Kapil Mishra also includes MLAs Abhay Kumar Verma, Chandan Kumar Choudhary, Sandeep Sehrawat and Deepak Choudhary as well as social activist Santosh Ojha.
The Chhath committee was entrusted with the responsibility of looking after the arrangements for NOC (No Objection Certificate), drinking water, medical and ambulance services, fire protection, mobile toilets, security, traffic, cleanliness, fogging (pesticide spraying) and uninterrupted power supply at the ghats and event venues.