A few weeks before the ongoing Chhath Puja, at least 2.44 lakh people traveled from Surat to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to celebrate the festival as the Surat Municipal Corporation made elaborate arrangements for the four-day Hindu festival, which begins on November 5. .
According to data from Western Railway on November 3, more than 25,000 people left Surat in one day for their native places in UP and Bihar.
In Surat, Chhath Puja celebrations began on Tuesday in 13 places of the city.
The Surat Municipal Corporation conducts devotees on the banks of the Tapi river and has also set up artificial ponds.
The civic body provided drinking water to the visitors and cordoned off the area to prevent the stampede and dispatch of fire and health department personnel, sources said.
Bihar Vikas Mandal, one of the oldest organizations that started Chhath celebrations in Surat, is leading the celebrations in different places including Singhanpore, Jehangirpura, Dindoli, Amroli, Vadod, Sachin and Godadara.
Bihar Vikas Mandal President Prabhunath Prasad Yadav told The Indian Express: “Chhath Puja has taken a toll on the people of Bihar and has now spread to Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. The four-day festival will conclude on Friday.”
Discussing how the Chhath Puja celebrations started in Surat, Yadav said, “In 1994, Surat City witnessed an epidemic of tuberculosis which led to many deaths. Due to this disease, many textile workers migrated to UP and Bihar. Many textile factories were closed down and Surat suffered huge economic losses. It was then BJP leader and late union minister Kashiram Rana, who visited Bihar and Odisha among other states and asked people to return to Surat and work. As the days of Chhath Puja were approaching, several political leaders of Bihar advised Rana to make preparations for the celebration in Surat. After this, special trains were run from Bihar to Surat to bring back the textile workers.” Yadav further said, “In 2017, a BJP corporator and a resident of Bihar, Girja Shanker Mishra, requested the then mayor to make arrangements for Chhath Puja in the city and later, a decision was taken in this regard. there, the SMC has been making preparations for the Puja.”
The SMC has also constructed artificial lakes at Vesu and Godadara, he added.
Special trains
Keeping in mind the festive rush, Western Railway started special festival trains from Udhna railway station in Surat to UP and Bihar.
According to data from Western Railway, from October 16 to November 4, 2.44 lakh migrant workers left Udhna railway station for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Western Railways earned Rs 5.24 crore from ticket sales.
At 25,039, the highest number of passengers departs from Udhna in a single day on November 3.
Chief Public Relations Officer Vineet Abhishek in a statement said that to meet the travel demand this year, Western Railway is running around 375 special trains during the holidays to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha.
Additional coaches are also added to regular trains as per availability and demand. On Wednesday, 18 special trains were operating and on Thursday, 14 such trains will run, said the statement.