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Double vaccination mandatory to take part in Durga puja rituals, says Calcutta HC
This is the second year that the Durga Puja would be held in a muted manner because of the high court orders to check the spread of Covid-19. Last year the court had banned pushpanjali and sindur khela.
The Calcutta high court on Monday relaxed some of the curbs on Durga Puja festivities while allowing local residents to take part in puja rituals, such as pushpanjali and sindur khela, provided they were fully vaccinated.
“The court said that local residents, who have already received their double doses, may take part in puja activities such as sindur khela and pushpanjali. The certificates of double vaccination would have to be submitted to the organisers. Police would conduct spot verification. All other curbs imposed by the court in its earliest order remain the same,” said Sabyasachi Chatterjee, advocate.
The court has already banned the entry of visitors in the puja pandals. A cap has also been put on the number of organisers who can enter the pandals at one go – while for a bigger puja the number is 60, for a small puja the number is 15.
The puja committees need to put up barricades - 10 metres away from the outer end of the big pandal and five metres away from the outer end of the smaller pujas – to make the pandals a no-entry zone for visitors.
This is the second year that the Durga Puja would be held in a muted manner because of the high court orders to check the spread of Covid-19. Last year the court had banned pushpanjali and sindur khela.
Joint teams comprising senior officers of the Kolkata Police, fire brigade department and the power supply corporation among others have been visiting some of the biggest puja pandals to check if the court directions were being followed.
At least 36,000 community pujas are held across the state, while in Kolkata alone 2,500 community pujas are held by various clubs. These are just the clubs that are registered with the state government. This apart there are pujas held in housing societies and residences. There are around 1,500 pujas which are organised by women only.
Durga Puja is the biggest annual festival in West Bengal. Even though the five-day-long Durga Puja starts this year from October 11, the festivity starts much before and it extends for more than a week every year. The immersion process will start on October 15 and continue till October 17. The state government has cancelled the puja carnival during the immersion.
