Calcutta High Court refuses to lift ban on entry of visitors inside puja pandals

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday refused to elevate the ban on the entry of holiday makers inside puja pandals, a day earlier than the beginning of Durga Puja – the largest pageant in West Bengal. The court docket, nevertheless, offered some reduction to puja organisers by elevating the cap on the variety of committee members and native residents right into a pandal; and permitting the entry of dhakis (drummers) as a part of the celebrations.

“No further modification is thought appropriate so that the effect of the effect of the order is not diluted or the purpose thereof defeated,” said the order handed by the division bench of the Calcutta excessive court docket on Wednesday.

In its order on Monday, the excessive court docket banned the entry of holiday makers contained in the Durga Puja pandals to include the unfold of the coronavirus illness (Covid-19), and mandated placing up barricades exterior these enclosures. It additionally capped on the variety of puja committee members who can enter the pandal – 25 for giant pujas, and 15 for smaller ones.

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“The virus refuses to go away. Though the healthcare facilities in the state have been augmented, with the limited resources available, the state can only do so much. In such a situation, it may be judicious to err on the side of prevention that to allow the festivities to go on without any checks and repent later that adequate resources may not be available to provide for the massive cure that may become necessary,” said the order handed on October 19.

Five purposes had been filed by varied puja organisers in and round Kolkata and the Forum for Durgotasab in search of a modification of the court docket’s order. These evaluate petitions had been heard on Wednesday.

Making modifications in its earlier order, the court docket stated that in massive pandals, the place the realm is greater than 300 sq. metres, no more than 45 individuals could enter at a time; and in smaller pandals, no more than 15 individuals must be current on the identical time. The larger pandals might want to give the names of 60 individuals who wish to enter the enclosure daily by eight that morning, whereas the smaller pandals should give an inventory of 20 names.

“Even though we had urged the court to raise the cap on the number of puja committee members entering the pandal every day to 100, we are happy with Wednesday’s modifications. This would allow puja committee members and local residents to enter the pandal in rotation every day. But it is unfortunate that local residents won’t be able to gather inside pandals to perform the Anjali and Sindur Khela. The entry of visitors remains banned,” stated Saswata Basu, basic secretaryof Forum for Durgotsab, an umbrella organisation of over 350 distinguished puja committees in Kolkata, which the evaluate petition.

Lawyers stated that Sindur Khela may be organised past the 10-metre barricaded zone for giant pujas and 5-metre no-entry zone for small pujas. Similarly, Anjali will also be carried out in the identical method from a distance.

This yr, than 37,000 neighborhood pujas are being organised throughout the state, together with greater than 2,500 in Kolkata. The record doesn’t embrace pujas that are held inside housing societies and homes.

The festive season begins at a time when Bengal has been witnessing a spike a Covid-19 circumstances. Bengal reported 4029 new circumstances on Tuesday, of which 809 new infections had been reported in Kokata alone. The positivity charge for West Bengalhas jumped from 6.9% to 9.2% within the final one month.

“Visitors’ entry inside pandals remains banned. This is an exceptional year because of the pandemic situation. We can celebrate next year. This year we need to stay away from crowd. The High Court has given some orders. Now it is up to the state government, police and club authorities to implement it,” stated Sabyasachi Chatterjee, the lawyer who filed the unique PIL for petitioner Ajay Kumar De.