Mumbai celebrates Ganesh Utsav with a lot of festivity and enthusiasm. However, the coronavirus outbreak has halted the celebrations for the last two years. This year, the auspicious festival will be celebrated from September 10, and the 11-day celebrations of Lord Ganesh will be marked amid covid restrictions. The city has begun to see a more than two-fold rise in covid cases in less than a month. And Mumbai Police has imposed regulations under Section 144 in Mumbai prohibiting the gathering of five or more people during the Ganesh festival between September 10 to 19.

Under the new section imposed in Mumbai, no parades of any kind would be allowed in the city during this time and devotees would not be allowed to visit Ganesh pandals either. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code of 1973 allows the authorities to issue prohibitory orders for precautionary missions. This rule authorizes the Executive Magistrate of any state or territory to declare an order to prohibit the gathering of four or more people in an area. And according to this law, every member of such unlawful gathering can be booked for involvement in criminal activities.

The Maharashtra Home Department had also issued a circular the day before banning visits to pandals to prevent the spread of COVID-19. On 8th September, Mumbai recorded 530 new covid cases, which was the highest since mid-July. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has also declared covid restrictions for celebrations of Ganesh Utsav. People can have darshan of Ganesh idols installed in pandals through the online mode or other media. The Maharashtra government, BMC, and the Police Department have requested the public to celebrate the festival in a simple manner because of the Covid-19 situation in Maharashtra. The government has likewise stated that it is necessary to celebrate Ganesh Utsav only by protecting oneself and one’s family from the pandemic

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Reference:

• www.lokmat.com
• www.indiankanoon.org