The Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has started cleaning of water bodies that will be used for performing rituals in Chhath but the drive is being carried in a very limited sense — clean the surface and leave the banks of the water bodies for the agencies to clean. Water bodies — Ranchi Lake, Line Tank Lake, Karamtoli Talab, Kanke Dam—are popular places for revering the Sun God and are flocked by devotees from nearby places. Ironically, major water bodies are still full of remnants of idols immersed after Dusshera and the banks are littered with garbage. “Cleaning of ghats is yet to begin. RMC only claims to make ghats suitable for devotees but in reality cleaning means only removing garbage and not making water free of worms, leaches or silt in which a devotees’ leg stuck making them stumble sometimes,” said Niranjan Mishra who lives near Ranchi Lake. The municipal body is not only slack on cleanliness but also in following directions of Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB). The apex body on pollution control had asked the RMC to remove insoluble parts of idols from ponds. The cleanliness drive started after a long gap. Nonetheless, the municipal body claims that cleanliness drive is underway and soon all water bodies will be made free of garbage and filth. The corporation deems that the drive being conducted at its behest is enough for ensuring clean chhath ghats and that the result will be visible in next few days. “We have already launched cleanliness drive and as per the schedule it will continue on war-footing till end of this month. There is no need to start a cleanliness drive separately as the ongoing drive will cover all ghats,” said Senior PRO of RMC, Ramkrishna Kumar. Notwithstanding the claims made by RMC, residents of Kokar ran cleanliness campaign for a day to clean distillery pond which is on the verge of extinction. People concerned with the pathetic condition of the pond blamed RMC for the pond which became a dumping yard for animal waster due to a thriving market situated just near the pond. “We cannot wait for RMC to come and clean this pond. We have been waiting and now realizing the gravity of situation took the responsibility of cleaning the pond,” said Kanhaiya Jha. Notably, the festival of worshipping Sun God will start from October 27. October 29 and 30 will be the day when devotees of the God will flock water bodies to revere the deity. Meanwhile, RMC’s board today forwarded the urban part of Ranchi Master Plan with a recommendation to reduce width of road between Kantatoli and Kokar to 80ft from 120 ft and also reduce width of the stretch between Lalpur Chowk to Kokar. The board was also abuzz with the issue of illegal mobile towers leading a verbal spat between a few ward councilors and the RMC administration.