NEW DELHI: Members of Purvanchal Nav Nirman Sangathan were on Monday prevented from staging a protest at Vidhan Sabha in the national capital to press their demand to lift the ban imposed on performing Chhath Puja at public places and river banks.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) in an order last week had directed officials to ensure that Chhath Puja is not performed at river banks, temples and other public places. It had asked district magistrates and deputy commissioners of police to’encourage people to celebrate the festival at their homes.
President of Purvanchal Nav Nirman Sangathan, Santosh Jha said a memorandum asking the AAP-led Delhi government to lift the ban on celebration of Chhath Puja at riverbanks, parks and other public places was later submitted to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
He said that the city police did not permit the members of the Purvanchal Nav Nirman Sangathan to hold the protest at Vidhan Sabha citing the spread of COVID-19.
Jha said most of people who celebrate Chhath in the national capital are from the state of Bihar and Purvanchal and live in small rented houses. It is not possible to perform the Chhath Puja at home because it involves paying obeisance to the Sun god from a water body, he further added