The Delhi High Court refused on Wednesday to overturn the ban on Chhath Puja celebrations in the Yamuna, citing the river’s high pollution levels and claiming it would be detrimental to devotees. The court further stated that adequate provisions had already been made for devotees.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela dismissed a case filed by Purvanchal Nav Nirman Sansthan, which sought directives to let individuals perform Chhath Puja on the Yamuna river. The petitioner’s attorney stated that the ghats and river should be cleaned in preparation for the festival, but the court stated that this could not be accomplished overnight due to the difficulty of the task.
The problem is that we cannot discharge sewage into the Yamuna. We are currently pouring sewage into the Yamuna. “Look at the unauthorized colonies built on the banks and the untreated sewage,” the judge stated. “Today, our thinking must be clean. The issue is that we believe the Yamuna is unclean. We’re not clearing our minds.
The Delhi government’s counsel stated that allowing devotees to celebrate Chhath Puja in the heavily polluted river could lead to illness. The High Court was also informed that the Delhi administration has set aside 1,000 sites to perform the Chhath Puja in Delhi.
Following the arguments, the bench stated that it could do anything at the eleventh hour and dismissed the plea. This year’s Chhath Puja will be held on Thursday. The Delhi government has proclaimed a holiday in honor of the occasion, which is mostly observed by migrants from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Every year, devotees take a bath in the Yamuna, despite a heavy coating of poisonous foam on the river’s surface, and pray facing the Sun. The toxic foam in the Yamuna is mostly caused by excessive levels of pollutants and the presence of phosphates and surfactants in the untreated sewage that enters the river.