Chhath Puja is worship of ‘Chhathi Maiya,’ Goddess Chhathi, predominantly by people from Bihar.
The spawning Rabindra Sarovar Lakes, long before it was called not as such, had been a site of worship for the South Kolkata living Biharis, in the worsened and polluted Adi-Ganga at Kalighat over the years. None took exception as the Lake was named a National Lake by the erstwhile Left Front government, I guess much for the funds provided by the Central Lake authorities and certainly not for the love of protecting the environment. Even then the religious activities went unhindered, but grew in size and volume, particularly breaching decibel levels while bursting crackers and using loudspeakers, much to the disturbance of the birds and animals that have made the Lakes and its surroundings as their abode.
Public interest litigation filed with the National Green Tribunal five years ago permitted the worship, but three feet away from the waters. The celebration went on in the usual gaiety and raucousness, unchanged in any manner. The environmentalists went back to the court, and the NGT ordered this year that no such worship shall take place in the tranquil waters of the lakes and directed the state to provide alternative arrangements for the worship.
Obeying the order of the NGT, the State Government locked all the gates at the lakes and had assigned a few alternative water bodies for their religious ceremonies. As the time for the rituals drew close, following the dusk today, there was a crowd swell at the gates broke the locks, the pilgrims rushed to the waterbody. They were in thousands, and no policemen were in sight, the property manned by a handful of private guards, scared for their lives.
No order that is not implementable is right in law, but the NGT order was very much implementable. The government drew a policy primarily in avoiding conflict or resulting in chaos and mayhem, which would have delighted a few political opponents. The other dangerous trend is to disregard court orders by the public, encouraged by political bail-out in the event of any trouble.
I went in the evening to check out at the lakes, apprehensive a bit but was surprised to see crowds as thick and puja rituals as noisy. No one objected to my clicking photographs and willingly posed.
The drummers who accompanied were camping close-by and confirmed they have an early day tomorrow. The security men, operating the gates were all exhausted, and for them, there was an additional headache preventing the closure of the gates any time before the usual 9 pm. It was the thousands of teenagers and lovebirds who succeeded in sneaking into the lakes in the melee and took the usual vantage dark spots.
Sadly, the environment has never succeeded in the wake of human onslaught and in particular, versus the religious faiths, and the folly realized only when it is too late. I hope that the Gods will offer a solution in the failure of human endeavours. The holy eyes of a frail octogenarian failed to realise any violation of any order. For her, it was ‘Chhathi Maiya ki Mahima,’ The Glory of Chhati Mother!’
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
