Chhath devotees observe 'kharna'

PATNA: Thursday being "kharna", the second day of the Chhath festivity, there was a huge rush at the ghats in the morning to collect water from river Ganga as "prasad" is cooked in it. Devotees broke their daylong fast on Thursday by consuming "kheer and roti" which was also distributed as "prasad". The Rotary Patna Mid Town, Shree Chhath Puja Samiti (Khazanchi Road), Vyavsaik Samaj (SP Verma Road), all distributed Puja items among the devotees on Thursday morning. Rotary president Rajesh Gupta said: "Puja materials like coconuts, 'soops', 'dala' and fruits were distributed free of cost among the 'Chhath vratis' from 8 am." Patna MP Ramkripal Yadav also distributed Puja materials among 500 devotees at the Gandhi Smarak Chowk. The Rotary Patna Ashok also organised a camp in the slum area of Saidpur to distribute Chhath materials. Meanwhile, the Unicef, Bihar, has deployed 787 transit teams in the entire state during the festival. As large number of people come to the state from different parts of the country during Chhath, there is a strong possibility of children being infected with polio virus. Therefore, transit teams will identify children below five years of age and administer anti-polio drops to them. These teams have been deployed at railway stations, bus stands, where children from outside enter the state, said state health society executive director Uday Singh Kumawat and Unicef state representative Bijay Rajbhandari. Meanwhile, CM Nitish Kumar has conveyed his best wishes to the people of Bihar on the occasion of the state's most popular festival - Chhath. He said people here are observing the four-day festival with absolute devotion and faith.