MUMBAI: BMC on Tuesday came out with more curbs for the Ganpati festival, banning physical darshan at mandals and all gatherings besides severely curtailing processions for bringing the idols and immersion.
It asked the organisers to arrange for online darshan from Friday and said only 10, preferably fully vaccinated, persons from every mandal can accompany the idol for visarjan. For household Ganpatis, only five persons are allowed. All devotees have to wear masks and observe social distancing. The same restrictions will apply for bringing Ganpati idols too.
“Considering the potential danger of the Covid third wave, devotees are strictly forbidden from taking darshan. It has been decided that Ganeshotsav mandals should provide darshan facility to the devotees by cable network, website, Facebook, social media, etc,” said BMC.
Earlier, the civic body had imposed height restrictions for mandal idols. On Tuesday, it said household idols also shouldn’t be over two feet tall.
BMC appealed to citizens to immerse the idols in artificial ponds instead of heading to the sea or lakes. No aarti should be performed at the immersion point, it should be done earlier at home or the mandals. All mandals have been asked to refrain from stopping the vehicles carrying the idols for immersion anywhere except at the collection points set up by BMC.
BMC caps height of household idols at 2ft
The BMC guidelines issued on Tuesday for Ganeshotsav not only curbed visarjan yatras, but those bringing the idols home too. “Even the process of bringing home Ganpati idols should not be in the form of a procession. There can be a maximum of five people for arrival processions too. If possible, these individuals should have taken two doses of Covid-19 vaccine and should have completed 15 days after taking the second dose. The idol should not be more than two feet high for domestic celebrations,” the BMC guidelines said.
For mandals, it added: “There must not be more than 10 people in processions of Ganpati mandals. All devotees should wear masks and observe social distancing. Also, these 10 people should have taken two doses of Covid-19 vaccine and 15 days must have passed after taking the second dose. The idol should not be more than four feet high for public celebrations.”
The civic body advised that domestic Ganpati idols should preferably be made of clay or, if possible, metal or marble idols in the house should be worshipped this year. Clay idols should be immersed in a bucket or drum at home, if possible.
“At the time of immersion of household Ganpati, there should be no processions. If at all there is a procession, there should be a maximum of five persons for immersion. If possible, these individuals should have taken two doses of Covid-19 vaccine and 15 days must have passed after taking the second dose,” the guidelines said.
Immersion of idols in containment zones should be done within the premise of the mandal or postponed. “Arrangements have to be made at home for immersion of Ganpati idols in sealed buildings. If the house/building is declared a containment zone during the festival, containment zone rules should be followed,” the BMC said.
