Manoj Tiwari reaches Yamuna Ghat for Chhath Puja, says will not follow DDMA order

Despite the barring Chhath celebrations at river ghats, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari on Wednesday reached the Yamuna Ghat in Sonia Vihar and said that he will not follow the orders, adding that nobody can stop the people from performing the rituals.

Tiwari's visit to the Yamuna Ghat came on the third day of the four-day-long festival.

Denying to follow the order of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) prohibiting celebrations of Chhath Puja at public places due to the threat of COVID-19, Tiwari said, "We will not follow the DDMA order. No one can stop us from performing our rituals. DDMA's work is to clean the Yamuna and not to ban people from going there."

BJP West Delhi MP Parvesh Verma also reached the Yamuna Ghat at Delhi's ITO today.

"Earlier police placed barricades here and stopped people. We came here and allowed their entry. We arranged clean water here. I am happy that people are performing their rituals of ChhathPuja," said Verma while speaking to ANI on Wednesday.

Following DDMA order barring Chhath celebrations at river ghats, the entry to Yamuna ghat at Delhi's Sonia Vihar has been barricaded.

Delhi government had designated sites for the Puja but none of them were on the banks of the Yamuna river.

A hazardous foam was floating on the Yamuna river due to increased ammonia levels and high phosphate content, caused by the discharge of industrial pollutants including detergents into the river.

Manoj Tiwari had previously on November 8 targeted the Kejriwal government on the cleanliness of ghats saying, "The Delhi government is not bothered about this development. Delhi government bans people from coming to ghats but makes false claims of cleaning them. The Supreme Court should take a suo-motu cognisance on this matter."

AAP leader Raghav Chadha has blamed the BJP governments in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for the pollution in the Yamuna river.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government has deployed boats to remove the toxic foam that was formed in the Yamuna river amid severe criticism.

(ANI)