New Delhi: At Kalindi Kunj, Lal Devi (65) was observing Kharna, the waterless fast on the second day of Chhath Puja. as the afternoon sun shone on the Yamuna.Her grandchildren had gone to the riverbank to mark the spot for Monday’s Sandhya Arghya, the evening offering to the setting sun. Chhath Puja, which started on Oct 25, will go on till Tuesday.Inside their small home, the smell of thekua, kheer and jaggery filled the air. Lal Devi’s husband checked the cane basket to ensure it had all the puja essentials — sugarcane, banana leaves, earthen lamps and fruits for the Monday offering.“This year we’re celebrating in Delhi,” Lal Devi said, wiping her hands on her sari. “Home is home, but the authorities have made good arrangements here,” she said, pointing to the boats brought by Delhi Jal Board to spray a defoaming chemical to clean the water. Lal Devi had wanted to return to Aarah like every year, but floods had ravaged her home, forcing the family to stay back for Chhath.Across Delhi, thousands of migrant Purvanchalis like Lal Devi are preparing for the four-day festival that honours the Sun God and Chhathi Maiya. Over 1,300 ghats — 17 of these along the Yamuna — have been readied by civic agencies. MCD, Delhi Jal Board and the Flood and Irrigation Department officials have been on ghat inspections. Lights, drinking water, changing rooms, mobile toilets and resting tents have been put in place. MCD has allotted Rs 40,000 each to 250 wards, which have 841 ghats, to improve lighting and sanitation.Near ITO, at the Yamuna Ghat both sides have been opened for devotees and additional canals have been dug to ease crowd movement. AP Yadav, a 55-year-old auto driver from Chhapra, watched volunteers setting up bamboo frames for offerings. “We have been in Delhi since 1990, offering Arghya at this ghat,” he said. “It’s heartening to see such thoughtful planning.”In Sonia Vihar, where the ghat has reopened to devotees for the first time after Covid, the festive buzz was back. Temporary canals were dug earlier to facilitate worship, but this year will see a return of devotees to the riverside. Devotees had come from as far as Uttam Nagar, Maujpur and Karawal Nagar and were sculpting clay mounds on the bank while MCD workers were installing temporary changing rooms. Ward councillor Soni Pandey, who was overseeing the arrangements, said: “We are ensuring devotees have comfortable seating, especially tomorrow night when many wait by the riverside after Sandhya Arghya to catch the sunrise the next morning.” Police personnel have been deployed across the big ghats for boat patrolling. Plainclothes officers, drones and CCTV cameras kept an eye on the crowd numbers.Community ghats have come up in residential neighborhoods, a move that has brought relief to families who earlier had to travel long distances and jostle at crowded riverfronts. Pandav Nagar’s Ganesh Nagar residents couldn’t be happier with the new model ghat inaugurated by chief minister Rekha Gupta. “Earlier, we would gather in the park and offer prayers near a temporary canal,” said Vishal Thakur, helping his father shape a clay mound. “Now, this ghat makes it easier for everyone. We don’t have to travel far or struggle for space. It feels like the festival has come home.”For the devotees, the railways are running 25-30 additional trains, ticket counters and online booking through the Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS). Waiting halls have been fitted with medical booths, charging points, barricades, and drinking water facilities.