The state Durga idol immersion carnival will not be held this year in Kolkata and fairs and carnivals near Puja pandals will not be allowed, the West Bengal government has announced.
“This year Puja is being organized and celebrated in the middle of this unprecedented pandemic,” the general guidelines from Nabanna, the state secretariat, said. “This demands proper and adequate health safety measures for the citizens. Puja Committees must ensure the health and safety norms for themselves and for the participants and visitors.”
The highlighted points in the guidelines dated October 1 included:
Spacious open pandals with separate entry and exit. Mingling and crowding should be avoided at all places. Floor markings and other signages should be made on entry and exit routes and assembly points to ensure compliance of physical distancing norms.
Compulsory masks and hand sanitiser. To meet any exigency, organisers shall make adequate arrangements for distribution of masks in close vicinity of the pandal to the visitors who inadvertently come to the pandal premises without wearing masks. Use and availability of hand sanitizer should similarly be made compulsory in the pandal premises and neighbourhood.
Volunteers and decongested rituals. Puja organizers must keep volunteers in adequate numbers for ensuring compliance of the norms of physical distancing among visitors, for enforcing wearing masks and use of hand sanitisers. Volunteers themselves should wear face masks and face shields.
Anjali, Prasad Bitaran and Sindoor Khela should be organized by Puja Committees in a planned manner and to the extent possible in smaller groups with spaced out timings in a staggered way. Priests should use microphones to utter the mnntra so that the sound reaches worshippers standing even far away and people do not have to assemble closely in small spaces. Devotees may be encouraged to offer Anjali with flowers brought from home.
No cultural programme is allowed in/near the Puja pandal premises.
Low-key award judging. Judges for Puja award programmes should not be allowed to enter Puja premises in huge convoys and large numbers. No more than two cars of judges at a time should be allowed to visit a pandal.
Emphasis on electronic and social media, low-key inaugurations and immersions spacing out the festivities over larger number of days were also highlighted in the guidelines.
