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Places of worship in Pune ready to reopen with raft of Covid safety measures
PUNE Enthusiasm and safety precautions mark the mood as religious places of worship in Pune open up for the public from Thursday, following a Maharashtra government order allowing the same
PUNE Enthusiasm and safety precautions mark the mood as religious places of worship in Pune open up for the public from Thursday, following a Maharashtra government order allowing the same.
At the Saint Anne’s church in Solapur bazaar, preparations were on in full swing on Wednesday. Right from sanitising the church to setting up “colour-coded” seating arrangements, everything is about ensuring Covid safety norms.
“In our church we have sanitised everything and are ready to open up from Thursday. We have a colour code for where people can, and cannot sit. And we have a huge number of volunteers for every service helping and monitoring the gathering,” said Father Malcolm Sequeira, Vicar General of the Poona Diocese.
“Normally, on Sunday we have the maximum number of people coming to church, so on Sunday there are two services in the morning and one in the evening. There will be 15 volunteers for each of the services who will guide the person right from the moment s/he enters the gate, this includes checking of temperatures, sanitiser for hands and then seating arrangements,” he added.
Advocate A Rehman, chairman of Kausarbag Mosque in Kondhwa area said, “We are happy to open up our mosque after such a long time and have already sanitised our premises . People will be allowed keeping social distancing for prayers and we will monitor the crowd, especially on Fridays. Apart from that, all the Covid guidelines given by the state government will be strictly followed.”
Similarly, safety arrangements have been made at the Gurudwara Shri Guru Singh Sabha in Ganesh peth. A special prayer programme has been organised on Thursday morning. “We have made all the social distancing arrangements at the Gurudwara. Seating arrangements have been made keeping a distance of two feet. Without face mask and sanitising hands no one will be allowed entry. Every day we will sanitise the entire Gurudwara in the morning,” said Pritam Singh, manager of the Gurudwara.
As the Navratri festival is also starting from Thursday, temples have also geared up to monitor crowds. There will be a large number of devotees coming to these temples all across the city. A prominent one is the Mahalaxmi temple near Sarasbaug. The decorations and safety arrangements have been made at the temple to open on Thursday.
“We have given top priority to the safety and security of people coming for darshan during the nine days of Navratri. We have installed 35 CCTV cameras in and around the temple premises. All the priests in the temple are fully vaccinated. And for further precautions, no one will be allowed without a face mask inside the temple. We have appointed two health personnel in the temple to check devotees if anyone feels uneasy,” said Amita Agarwal, chief trustee of the temple.
