City braces for low-key Durga Puja

As the Millennium City adapts to the new normal due to the pandemic, Durga Puja festivities this year are also being tweaked to ensure social distancing at venue,

As the Millennium City adapts to the new normal due to the pandemic, Durga Puja festivities this year are also being tweaked to ensure social distancing at venue, live streaming of rituals and proper hygiene, starting Thursday.

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The district administration has allowed Navratri and Durga Puja functions to be organised in the city, but with limited attendees and have prohibited fairs, food stalls, exhibitions, rallies and processions until Diwali.

Organisers of Durga Puja across the city will be live streaming the ceremonies on each of the five days of Puja. Cultural programmes, coordinated and rehearsed in-house, have also transitioned online. “We will have a digital Pujo in compliance with social distancing, but it will still be according to the almanac, right from Pushpanjali,” said Sraboni Bhattacharya, member, Bangiya Parishad Gurugram.

Celebrations will be low-key in public areas as most organisers have prohibited physical visits, while some have set up applications and time slots for devotees to visit.

According to the police, organisers have been directed not to allow visitors who are not wearing face masks and also arrange other sanitisation facilities at the venues. Thermal scanning is also must, the police said.

The district administration has set strict rules for the Durga Puja celebration across the city.

As per the guidelines issued by Amit Khatri, deputy commissioner of Gurugram, last week, it is imperative that suitable regulations are put in place and proper measures are taken during the celebration to prevent the spread of Covid-19 at the venues. “Durga Puja pandals will be allowed to be set up only in temples and no pandal shall be allowed to be erected on and by the side of any road. We have not allowed setting up of any food stalls near pandals. Also, we have made all necessary arrangements with the organisers to ensure that immersion of the idols will be done with a minimum strength of devotees so as to avoid congestion and large gatherings at the immersion sites,” he said.

Organisers of the pandal at DLF Phase-1 community centre, which is one of the most popular in the city, have turned to social media to meet people, prohibiting visits.

Ambica Sachdeva, a resident of Block E of DLF Phase-1, said, “This time, we are trying to celebrate by not visiting pandals but meeting people digitally while being at home. There are no pandals this year in our area and all celebrations are only online.”

Many in the developing sectors along the Dwarka Expressway and near Kherki Daula have cancelled their celebrations due to apprehensions of Covid-19 spread and are setting up rituals online.

Alok Roy, president of Sushant Lok Durga Puja committee, said that this year, rituals will be limited to a few families in a hall. “Social and entertainment part will no longer organised in open and grand way. People are restricted to social media and only members will be allowed to visit the halls,” he said.

Some organisers have roped in renowned artists to pull audiences online and celebrate the festival.

Sraboni Bhattacharya, member, Bangiya Parishad Gurugram, said that they are celebrating Durga Puja in a new and different way, with most events being organised online. “There would be live streaming of the puja and pushpanjali, and we will enjoy a lineup of cultural programmes online. What we are missing though is catching up with friends, the ‘adda’ and the yummy ‘bhog’. It is sad that we cannot have ‘boron’ and bid adieu to Ma, and there will be no ‘sindur khela’ either. This year, I just pray to Ma Durga to keep everyone healthy and safe,” she said.

Partha Dey, general secretary of Bangiya Parishad, said, “Our aim is to ensure the safety of all devotees and we should not get infected nor should others. We will adhere to the guidelines and maintain social distancing. We will celebrate a digital affair — pushpanjali will be offered online and people will not stand before ‘Ma Durga’ but will offer prayers from home through their mobile phones or computer screens.”

However, the association has set up an application to allow visitors to book time slots for visits. “A distance of six feet is mandatory for all the visitors, no one is allowed to touch anything and sanitization is being carried out every two hours to ensure the safety of devotees and organisers. The members are allowed for physical presence through pre-booking but only once a day,” said Partha Dey.

Khatri said there will be effective sanitisation of all premises, with particular focus on lavatories, hand and foot-washing areas. “No physical offerings like ‘prasad’ or ‘bhog’ will be allowed inside the pandals,” he said.

The police has not received any application for setting up pandal this year and special teams have been formed from each police station to keep a check on puja halls.

KK Rao, the commissioner of police, said that this year, the celebrations will be confined to association members of organising committee only. “We have not received any request for deployment of police personnel, unlike the other years. The organisers are not allowing even 100 devotees a day to the hall and they will have to keep us updated in case they increase the number,” he said.