A canal that waited years for renewal is about to get its moment — and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta wants voters to know exactly who delivered it. On Wednesday, 11 November 2026, the CM announced that an 11-kilometre Chhath ghat along the Munak Canal and the developed Singalpur Road will be inaugurated the very next day, with BJP National President Nitin Nabin performing the opening ceremony.

A canal, a ghat, and a festival's faithful

The Munak Canal originates in Haryana and is a critical artery for Delhi's water supply. Stretches of its embankment have long sat underutilised, often in disrepair. The new project converts 11 kilometres of this waterfront into a dedicated Chhath ghat — a bathing and worship platform for devotees of Chhath Puja, one of the most demanding and sacred festivals in the Hindu calendar, observed with particular fervour by communities from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Chhath devotees perform multi-day rituals at the water's edge, requiring clean, accessible, structurally sound ghats. Delhi's large migrant population from Bihar and Purvanchal has historically used river and canal banks for these rituals, often in conditions that fall short of safety standards. A purpose-built, 11 km-long ghat — if fully realised — would rank among the longest dedicated Chhath infrastructure in any Indian city.

Singalpur Road and the broader neighbourhood push

The ghat is not the only headline. The development of Singalpur Road has been bundled into the same inauguration, with the CM saying it will expand amenities for 'हजारों परिवारों' — 'thousands of families' — in the surrounding locality. Road upgrades alongside riverfront development is a pattern seen in several BJP-governed urban administrations, where civic works are packaged for maximum visibility ahead of or during festival seasons.

The timing is sharp: Chhath Puja falls in late October or November each year, meaning the ghat is being handed over to devotees almost at the festival's doorstep. Whether the infrastructure holds up under the pressure of one of Delhi's largest public gatherings will be the real test.

Nitin Nabin's presence signals party-level weight

The choice of BJP National President Nitin Nabin to perform the inauguration — rather than a local minister or MP — signals that the party is treating this as a showcase project, not routine municipal work. Senior party leadership at an inauguration typically amplifies the political messaging and sets the stage for wider outreach, particularly among the Chhath-observing electorate that is influential across several Delhi constituencies.

How Delhi's Chhath faithful receive the new ghat this season will determine whether this becomes a durable piece of the BJP's governance narrative — or just a ribbon-cutting photo.