With only a few days to go to Durga Puja, the Calcutta High Court today partially relaxed the order declaring that a certain number of people are allowed to enter the Durga puja pandals in Calcutta.
The Calcutta High Court, hearing the petition about the establishment of pandals during Durga Puja, has allowed the ‘dhakis’ to be present outside the no-entry zone in each pandal.
The Court also said that for the smaller pandals, 15 people are allowed, while 60 people are allowed for the larger pandals.
Earlier, an association of Durga Puja organizers in the metropolis filed a petition with the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday seeking “minor modifications” to its order that the canopies become ‘no-entry zones’ to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
A bench from the Sanjib Banerjee and Arijit Banerjee division of judges on Monday ordered barricades to be erected around all Durga Puja marquees in the state to prevent the entry of anyone blocking the entry of some members of the puja committee.
The ‘Forum for Durgotsab’, which has more than 300 bidding committees under its umbrella, has sought “minor modifications” to the order, said its lawyer and TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, without elaborating.
Sanjib Banerjee submitted to the court that the order was approved without listening to the bidding committees, as they were not a party to the case.
The forum also sought guidance from the court on performing community rituals of ‘pushpanjali’ by joining the order, said one of its founding members, Partha Ghosh.
“We had decided to carry out the rituals in a staggered manner by not allowing more than 20 devotees at a time. Now, with the court directing the maintenance of a distance of 5 meters from the smaller tents and 10 meters from the larger ones, we must be clear about how to organize the ‘pushpanjali’ community, Ghosh, also head of Shib Mandir Durga Puja’s office, told the news agency PTI.
The forum also sought clarity on the categorization of large and small bids, he said.
“We made elaborate arrangements for separate entry and exit points. But, with the court’s order, there is a possibility that they will be huddled near the canopies and visitors will find each other.
“This will be even more of a problem for bidding organized in narrow lanes, where visitors cannot return by the same route after seeing the idols,” said another forum member, Saswata Basu.
A renowned Durga Puja committee, the Mudiali Club, while appreciating the court order issued in the interests of people’s safety, said in a Facebook post that allowing only 25 committee members to enter the marquee will deprive others of the opportunity. to worship the goddess.
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