Navi Mumbai: The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and the Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) issued guidelines for this year’s Navratri celebrations on Wednesday. The civic bodies have capped the height of the Durga idol to 4 feet for public celebrations, and 2 feet for private gatherings. There is also a ban on Garba and dandiya this year.
Like the previous year, the 10-day Navratri festival will be celebrated in the backdrop of the COVID pandemic and it will be a low-key event.
As per the guidelines issued on Wednesday night, civic bodies have issued mandatory sanitization for mandaps and restricted flowers and sweets inside the pandals. Both civic bodies stressed online darshan through cable TV or Facebook live.
Holding the festival without civic bodies' permission will attract action, the guidelines informed. Apart from environment-friendly celebrations like installing metal or soil-made idols, civic bodies restricted a maximum of five persons inside the pandal at a time. While senior citizens and children will not be allowed at idol immersion sites, civic bodies have asked citizens to complete the ritual before reaching the immersion sites. There will be only natural immersions sites for idol immersions.
The organizers have to ensure that there should not be gathering for Aarti and Bhajan during the 10 days of the festival. “We have suggested puja mandaps to hold awareness program on how to prevent the spread of dengue and malaria, including blood donation camp," said a senior civic official from NMMC.
