Updated: October 19, 2020 7:46:13 pm
Crowds flock to see the Durga Idol at Sreebhumi in Laketown in Kolkata on the Monday after the HC ruling
Amid fears of a surge in Covid-19 cases in West Bengal, the Kolkata High Court said on Monday that Durga Puja pandals would be no-entry zones for visitors. Hearing a PIL from Ajay Kumar, the High Court said revelers would not be allowed within a distance of five meters for small pandals and 10 meters for large pandals and ordered the organizers to erect barricades at their entrance.
Only organizers or committee members could enter the pandals, the HC ordered, limiting the number to 25 for large pandals and 15 for smaller ones. A list of the names of the organizers must be posted outside the pandals and only they will be able to participate for work related to the bid. The HC also asked each bidding committee to submit a crowd management plan. There are more than 37,000 bidding committees in West Bengal, including 3,000 in Calcutta.
The court found that there were not enough policemen in Kolkata and in the districts to control the crowd during the bidding.
At Sreebhumi Durga puja pandal in Laketown in Kolkata on Monday (Express photo by Shashi Ghosh)
“The court said that visitors will not be allowed into the pandals. Only a few people from the bidding organizers will be allowed in. The police will have to ensure that such measures are upheld, ”said lawyer Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, who appeared on behalf of the petitioner.
The order arrives days after The High Court ordered the Durga Puja organizers spend 75 percent of the Rs 50,000 grant awarded by the Mamata Banerjee government on the acquisition of Covid-19 protective equipment such as disinfectants and masks, while the remainder of the amount should be spent on strengthening ties between the police and the population.
The state administration told the judges that the grant was intended to help increase public awareness about Covid-19 protocols and the purchase of disinfectants and masks.
However, various panda committees, such as the popular Santosh Mitra square, have arranged for virtual ‘darshan’ this time, while banning physical entry of visitors. There are other puja associations that have said that revelers cannot be prevented from visiting the marquees and have made arrangements for the safety of the people.
Bhawanipur 75 Pally Durga Puja pandal has installed a special sanitizing foot mat and a hand sanitizer kiosk equipped with sensors and antimicrobial protective film. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had recently announced that people can start visiting the ‘Tritiya’ tents (October 19) to avoid overcrowding. Hordes of people were seen gathering in large Durga puja pandals across the city Monday morning, throwing the precaution of social distancing to the wind.
The death toll from Covid-19 in West Bengal surpassed the 6,000 mark on Sunday with 64 more deaths, even as a record number of 3,983 new cases brought the count to 3,21,036, the health department said.
(With input from Santanu Chowdhury)
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