No visitors inside Durga Puja pandals across West Bengal, orders Calcutta HC

Just three days ahead of the festival of Durga Puja, Calcutta High Court has ordered all Durga Puja pandals in West Bengal to be turned into 'no entry zones' for visitors.

What the order states

High Court ordered that only organisers can enter the pandal and the name of the organisers should be mentioned outside the pandal. A maximum of 25 members will be allowed inside the pandal premises.

These names and numbers have to be fixed and cannot change every day, the court said.

A division bench of Justice Sanjib Banerjee & Justice Arijit Banerjee gave the order of new restrictions which comes into effect immediately.

Judges also expressed their disappointment that the State government did not come up with a plan to implement the guidelines issued by them to contain the spread of coronavirus during the festivities.

The puja pandal will be treated as a containment zone, the order further stated. Judges have also asked the police personnel to ensure that the orders are implemented by the organizers.

Court further said that the measures have been taken since it will be difficult to police 5-6 lakh people who would be on the road for pandal hopping.

The DGP of West Bengal and Commissioner of Kolkata Police have to submit a report to the court within four days of Laxmi Puja which is on October 30.

All you need to know

• Durga puja pandals will be no-entry zones for visitors.
• Only organisers will be allowed inside the pandals.
• Maximum of 25 member will be allowed inside big pandals and 15 inside smaller ones given the coronavirus outbreak
• Number of people allowed has to be fixed and cannot change every day.
• All pandals will have to erect barricades at their entrance -- the distance is five meters for small pandals and double that for the big ones.
• All puja pandals will be treated as containment zones.