Varanasi: With floodwaters receding and space opening up at Assi Ghat, the daily evening Ganga aarti returned to the lower steps on Monday, while police allowed boatmen to take pilgrims to their anchored boats to view the Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat.
With the IAF’s Air Show-2026 formally scheduled for October 25, the Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC) has begun finalising a plan to clear the ghat steps of flood-deposited silt, as the steps are set to serve as an audience gallery for the show. After crossing the warning level of 70.26 metres, the river began receding, though the pace of decline was slow. By Tuesday morning, the water level had reached 66.05 metres and the receding trend continued.
Officials said boatmen had been asked to wait for the river current to weaken before resuming boat operations. A major rise in the Ganga’s water level had taken place in the last fortnight of Aug. Police also allowed boatmen to facilitate pilgrims boarding their anchored boats to view the Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat.
ACP Dashashwamedh Atul Anjan Tripathi said on Tuesday that permission had been granted for pilgrims to board boats only if they remained anchored near the ghats.