Cachar District administration rolls out strict SOP; imposes ban on Roadside Puja, idols over 5ft, cultural events

In a country where the election commission has allowed elections to be held in Bihar with more than 7.2 crore voters participating in it, the Cachar district administration has rolled out a guideline that basically imposes a partial ban to Durga Puja. A district with more than 15 lakh Bengalis residing in it will be deprived of their biggest annual event, the Sharod Utsav.

Apart from the religious importance, Durga Puja in Cachar plays a vital role in generating employment opportunities for many skilled workers. The guidelines issued by the Cachar district administration will certainly dig a massive hole in the pocket of businesses related to light and sound, idol-making, art and culture fraternity and many more.

There is a ritual that Hindus follow which says that one cannot abruptly discontinue Durga Puja. The Sarbajanin Durga Puja Committees which used to organise Puja in makeshift roadside pandals will, therefore, won’t be able to do so.

The letter issued by the deputy commissioner of Cachar states that, “In continuation of letter No. ASDMA.24/2020/PW/119, Dated:16/09/2020 issued by the Chief Secretary to The Govt. of Assam and to contain the gains made in the fight against Corona there has been a palpable rate in the positivity compared to tests done in Cachar District and it is imperative that these gains made need to be sustained.”

It adds, “In view of ongoing pandemic and with a feeling to celebrate the festival of Durga Puja and considering the seriousness and reality of the pandemic situation, the following Standard operating procedure’s are hereby laid down for the upcoming festivities in connection with Durga Puja 2020 in Cachar District.”

Places where Durga Puja will be allowed

1. Idol puja celebration will only be allowed in places where the puja committee has permanent concretestaphit mandir or mandop. Temporary constructed puja pandals will not be allowed.

2. Puja committees are allowed to open the mandaps/mandir at 5.00a.m in the morning and are requested to shut down (with barricades) by 10 p.m starting from Panchami to Navami.

Idol Preparation/Size-

1. Durga idols will only be allowed upto a size of 5 feet. Idols beyond this height will not be permitted.
2. Durga puja idol should all together(5 deities) be in a single frame(Ek-katham) and not in separate form.
3. For carrying of idols for puja only a group of 5(five) persons will be allowed following all Covid protocols.

Puja rituals & other responsibilities of Puja Committees

1. Puja preparation and other arrangements for each puja committee will be limited to 10(ten) persons.Only Ten(10) Persons are allowed at a time in the puja premises maintaining social distancing and other protocols of COVID -19.
2. Puspanjali may be allowed only in small groups of 5-10 maintaining social distancing.
3. Distribution of wet prasad to devotees by any Puja Committee is strictly prohibited.
4. Devotees willing to offer puja items(other than edible ones) to the deities will have to enrol themselves way ahead before the puja starts with concerned puja committee and hand over the same prior to the start of Sashthi (First Day of Puja) following all sanitization protocols.
5. Devotees willing to offer puja items(edible ones like sweets, fruits, vegetables, etc) to the deities will have to enroll themselves way ahead before the puja starts with concerned puja committee and hand over the same in the form of cash(to be purchased by puja committee members) before the start of Sashthi(First Day of Pula).
6. Aarti in the evening will also be allowed to be performed by the pujari/priest with maximum of 10(ten) number of persons only.
7. All Puja committes should engage adequate number of volunteers to maintain discipline/physical distancing and other norms related to COVID-19.
8. Each puja committee should have a temperature screening team with an ambulance/vehicle to avoid and prevent any sort of emergency.
9. Each puja committee will have to mandatorily sanitise the entire area after every 6(six) hours.
10. All puja committee should display a LED screen mentioning number of people inside outside the main gate so that there is no rush inside the mandap/mandir. No narrow entry and exit gates will be allowed.
11. Strict Compliance of social distancing wearing mask, etc are to be maintained.
12. Adequate Numbers of sanitizers is to be kept at the entrance of every Puja Pandal.
13. CCTV to be installed in all Puja Pandals and Constant monitoring of the footage is to be taken care of.
14.AII the Committee members and concerned workers including the priest will invariably will undergo RAT testing.
15. The Puja Committees will arrange for proper sanitization & thermal screening of the devotees before entering the Puja Pandals.
16. Puja Committees will ensure safe electrical wiring to prevent any untoward incident. They should take fire safety measures.

Bisarjan/Immersion on Dashami-

1. No immersion/bhaasan rally/Procession will be allowed.
2. For immersion maximum 5(five) number of persons from each family/puja committee will be allowed.
3. Time limit for each idol immersion will be notified and each puja committee & families undertaking idol puja will have to apply at the Office of District Disaster Management Authority, Cachar and time slot for each immersion will be provided from there itself. Puja Committees & families undertaking idol puja will have to mandatorily do the immersion at given time slot.
4. Public gathering In the ghat will not be allowed.
5. Not more than two (2) Committee will be allowed in to the ghat at a given point of time.
6. Not more than five persons per committee will be allowed to carry the Idol to the Immersion ghat on the day of Immersion. 7. To avoid crowd an extended visarjan process will be adopted, which will continue 1 or 2 day after the day of Dashami also. Puja committee’s will get their allotted day of visarjan based on the application made by them.

Others-

1. Persons with co-morbidities, persona above 65 years of age and children are advised to not venture out during Durga Puja.
2. All puja samithis are requested to take care of the Idol makers and contribute towards their livelihood and well-being through the donations collected
3. Accumulation of crowd at any place will not be allowed.
4. Wearing of mask and maintaining physical distance will be mandatory for all(devotees/puja committee members/all others).
5. No Mela /Cultural Events competitions in connection with the celebration of puja will be allowed.
6. The Puja Committee will not allow any vendor, temporary tea stalls /chat house etc in the vicinity of the Puja Pandal.
7. Miking will not be allowed. Mega Speakers/mobile speakers will not be allowed Only dhaakis for puja will be permitted. 8. All puja committees/mandirs are requested to use Social Media Platform to live stream the rituals of puja to devotees at the comfort of their homes. Here leading local TV Channels may also engage themselves in live streaming puja from puja committees/mandirs.
9. Movement of two wheelers will be restricted.
10. Immersion ghats will be segregated for idol immersion all throughout the district.
11. All loose materials/items that may pollute the water or stagnate water flow should be removed and collected before immersion of puja.
12. Local Police and Volunteers will have to take the following steps-
a) Keeping close watch on suspicious objects and persons especially during the celebration of the festival.
b) Frisking of suspicious persons as and when felt necessary.
c) Vigil is required to be taken over circulation of communally provocative material on social media & cyber space to block such objectionable contents.
d) Concrete steps are also to be taken to keep a tab on the Rumour mongers so as to maintain social communal harmony.
e) PSE should strictly adhere to this instructions and take all preventive and precautionary measures from their end to ensure that no untoward incident takes place within the district during celebration of festival .

“This Standard operating procedure’s is prepared with an intention to safeguard the life of each individual residing in Cachar District from COVID-19 pandemic to contain the further spread of virus,” concludes DC Keerthi Jalli’s letter.