Online darshan, no to garba in civic body’s Navratri SOP

MUMBAI : The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday issued guidelines for the upcoming navratri (October 7-14) festival, in which it directed the sarvajanik (community) mandals in the city to arrange for online darshan of idols for public in view of Covid-19, similar to last year.

The BMC has said navratri will be celebrated low key, on the lines of Ganesh festival, wherein organising garba is restricted and not more than five people will be allowed inside pandals. The BMC, in a circular, has appealed organisations to hold blood donation camps or create public awareness regarding vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue, instead of organising garba events.

The BMC in a circular said, “Conducting any religious ritual of worship there should not be any kind of crowd gathered around the pandal. No distribution of ‘prasad, flowers has been allowed and so has the setting up of stalls around it been restricted.”

“The organising of garba is restricted as that brings people in close contact with each other. There will also be no artificial immersion sites and all idols will be immersed in natural immersion sites only,” said deputy municipal commissioner Harshal Kale in the circular. The BMC has also restricted the height of the idol to 4 feet in case of public mandals and two feel for home like that during Ganesh festival.

Meanwhile, during immersion and during bringing the idol, not more than 10 people will be allowed, who should be preferably fully vaccinated and not more than five people, in case of those taking the idol at home. Further, those coming to take physical darshan at pandals should be screened for their temperature. The main area of the pandal should be sanitised three times in a day, said the BMC in a circular.

ANSHUMAN POYREKAR/HT People try traditional costumes at Ghatkopar.