Devotees take holy dip in Ganga on Chhath puja

Lakhs of devotees today took a holy dip in the river Ganga here on the occasion of Chhath puja.Devotees offered prayers to the Sun God at Dashaswamedh, Rajendra Prasad, Sheetala, Kedar and Assi ghats.In view of the heavy rush of people, heavy deployment of police and paramilitary forces has been made at all the ghats and temples, a senior police official said.Ahead of the festival, a massive cleaning drive was launched in the city and a number of sacred kunds and water bodies cleaned.Besides ghats and water bodies, waste was also collected from various colonies in the city, B K Singh, senior health officer, Varanasi Nagar Nigam said. PTI