Devotees perform rituals in toxic foam-laden Yamuna on final day of Chhath puja

New Delhi: On the last day of Chhath celebrations, devotees made offerings to Sun God while standing knee-deep in the water of toxic foam-laden Yamuna river, near Kalindi Kunj in Delhi on Thursday. Devotees across Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand gathered on ghats to offer prayers.

This comes just a day after the Delhi High Court dismissed a plea challenging decision to prohibit the devotees from performing Chhath Puja at the banks of the Yamuna river. Meanwhile, the political tussle between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in the national capital and Bharatiya Janata Party continued after the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) order prohibited devotees from performing the rituals at the ghats of Yamuna to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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 had also reached the Yamuna Ghat at Delhi's ITO on Wednesday.

"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 Chhath Puja," said Verma while speaking to ANI on Wednesday.

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. 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.