At dusk on Sunday, 15 November 2026, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami waded into the festival grounds of the Chhath Mahotsav in Khatima, Udham Singh Nagar — offering prayers to the setting sun and, in the same breath, unveiling a ₹300-crore drainage plan that the town has waited years to see. Faith and infrastructure, in one evening.

The event was organised by the Purvanchal Seva Samiti, Khatima — a community body representing families who migrated from eastern Uttar Pradesh and have made Uttarakhand's Terai belt their home. CM Dhami offered puja-archana (ritual prayers) to Bhagwan Surya Narayan, sought blessings for the state's prosperity, and also performed the inauguration of the beautification of Chhath Ghat near Ward No. 14, Sanjay Railway Park.

What Dhami said about the sun and the struggling

Speaking at the gathering, the Chief Minister drew a pointed philosophical message from the central Chhath ritual — the offering of arghya (water oblation) to both the rising and the setting sun. 'This tradition teaches us,' he said, 'that respect should not be reserved only for those at the peak — it must be accorded to every person who has walked through hard struggle.' The remark, directed at the Purvanchal migrant community in the audience, landed as both cultural affirmation and political solidarity.

He praised the festival as 'aastha, anushasan, tapasya aur prakriti ke prati kritagyata ka anootha sangam' — a unique confluence of faith, discipline, penance, and gratitude to nature — and described Chhath as a living bridge between the cultures of Uttarakhand and Purvanchal, a 'beautiful example of unity in diversity.'

₹300 crore to end Khatima's annual flood nightmare

Khatima sits in the low-lying Terai plains abutting the Nepal border, and recurring monsoon flooding has long disrupted life and commerce here. Dhami announced that a drainage plan worth more than ₹300 crore has been approved for a permanent solution to the town's flood problem — and that a bhoomi pujan (ground-breaking ceremony) will be held shortly.

Alongside the drainage plan, he listed a clutch of road projects already under way: hotmix surfacing from Khatima Chauraha to Mela Ghat Road, road widening from the main chauraha to Tharu Vikas Bhavan, and new road construction on Majola Road and the Nanaksagar-to-17 Mile stretch at a cost of ₹34 crore. For border villages — which the government now designates as 'Pratham Gaon' (First Village) — development proposals worth ₹12 crore have been prepared for Melghat, Sisaiya, and Nagla Tarai.

Schools, temples, and the 'Vikas bhi, Virasat bhi' thread

Invoking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governing mantra of 'Vikas bhi aur Virasat bhi' — development as well as heritage — Dhami situated each announcement within a larger framework of state-building that refuses to treat culture and concrete as opposites. A new building for the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Khatima is already complete. An additional ₹10 crore has been announced by a Union minister for the Eklavya Model Residential School in the area — a central scheme targeting tribal education. Beautification and development work at the Van Chetna Maidan and Vankhandi Mahadev Temple in Chakrapur is progressing rapidly, with plans to establish it as a major spiritual tourism hub.

Officials and a physician were also felicitated at the event for distinguished service. Senior district officials present included DM Nitin Singh Bhadauria and SSP Ajay Ganapati, alongside elected representatives including Zila Panchayat President Ajay Maurya and Municipal Council President Ramesh Chandra Joshi.

When the land-breaking for Khatima's drainage plan finally happens, it will be the clearest test yet of whether this festive evening's promises translate into the kind of change that outlasts the festival lights.