Mumbai Ganesh Chaturthi: In the wake of a rise in the number of new coronavirus infections and fear of a third wave, the Mumbai civic body has issued fresh guidelines for the Ganpati festival starting tomorrow. The BMC has banned physical darshan for devotees at the public Ganpati mandals and appealed to citizens to celebrate the festival with simplicity. 

BMC issues fresh guidelines ahead of Ganpati festival

Ban on physical darshan for devotees at public mandals as well as imposed restrictions on the number of participants in processions during the celebrations. 

For bringing the idols of the deity and during their immersion, there will not be more than 10 people in the processions of public mandals and not more than five for the household Ganpatis, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the guidelines issued on Tuesday. 

Also, the 10 participants should have taken both the doses of COVID-19 vaccine and completed 15 days after taking the second dose," the guidelnes said.

"All devotees should wear masks and observe social distancing. 

Ganpati festival in Covid containment zones in Mumbai

The mandals falling in COVID-19 containment zones will have to make arrangements for the immersion of the Ganpati idols in the mandal premises or postpone it. If a house/building is declared a containment zone, the rules for it should be followed during the festival, the BMC said.

Ganpati festival in sealed buildings in Mumbai

Similarly, in sealed buildings, devotees will have to make arrangements for the immersion of idols at home, it said. 

Height of household and public mandals Ganpati

The civic body has already restricted the height of household Ganpati idols to two feet and for the public mandals to four feet. 

On Tuesday, Mumbai reported 353 new COVID-19 cases and two fresh fatalities, which took the infection tally to 7,47,078 and the death toll to 16,000, as per official data.