Durga Puja festivities get nod but with curbs
NEW DELHI: Durga Puja, which will be celebrated between October 11 and 15 this year, is likely to be a low-key affair with most pandal organisers planning to follow the rituals without the associated grandiose such as large idols and cultural programmes, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) met on Wednesday and decided to allow Durga Puja celebrations this year but with several riders. Unlike last year, when no visitors were allowed at pandals, this year, organisers will have to ensure that venues do not have visitors beyond the seating capacity and there can be no stalls of any kind. “The chief secretary is chalking out a formal standard operating procedure (SOP) for festival celebrations,” said a government official who attended the DDMA meeting, asking not to be named.
The puja organisers are now awaiting the SOP to get more clarity on specific restrictions and relaxations regarding cultural events, idol immersion, pandals, eateries, stalls, and crowd management both inside and outside venues.
“We welcome the decision. We will ensure strict adherence to all regulations. Safety of people is paramount,” said Swapan Ganguly, convener of Kalibari temple in New Delhi’s Mandir Marg, which organises one of the most prominent Durga Puja pandals in the city.
Every year, the police and revenue department issue no-objection certificates (NOC) to around 550 Durga Puja pandals in the city. Hindustan Times spoke with several of them on Wednesday and most of them said they are left with too little time now to make grand arrangements.
“We plan to have a decent pandal but there will be no idol or cultural programme,” member of the Durga Puja committee at Delhi’s Safdarjung Enclave.
Robin Bose, general secretary of the Durga Puja committee in Kashmere Gate, said, “We welcome the decision but the government has taken too long to make it. We hope the NOC and approval process is expedited.”
Between the last Durga Puja and the upcoming one, Delhi has witnessed two major waves of the viral disease -- in November 2020 and April 2021. While the first one peaked at a weekly average of around 7,600 new cases a day, the April wave peaked at a weekly average of around 25,000 new cases a day.
“We will follow all Covid-19 protocols. However, it is going to be a low-key affair this time with no idol or stalls,” said Narayan Dey, general secretary of the Durga Puja committee at CR Park’s Mela Ground.
Till Covid struck in 2020, the five days of Durga Puja are marked by decorated streets, carnivals, pandal hopping, shopping, neighbourhoods festooned with flowers and lamps, and a wide range of cuisines -- offered not only by restaurants, which stretch their working hours during those days, but also makeshift eateries that come up inside and outside venues.
“I am happy that some celebration is happening this time. People will socialise but with adequate precautions. But it is quite impossible to think of Durga Puja without food stalls and cultural programmes,” said Shinjini Bose, a resident of Mayur Vihar.