MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (
BMC
) on Tuesday issued new rules to be followed for the upcoming
Ganpati festival
that begins on Friday.
The BMC has banned all processions or gatherings for the Ganpati festival.
In its guidelines, the BMC has restricted the number of persons to just 10 for Ganpati mandals for visarjan or immersion and to just five persons for household Ganpatis. The BMC has also banned physical darshan for devotees at Ganpati mandals. Mandals have been asked to instead arrange for online darshan.
The civic body has also appealed to citizens to immerse idols in artificial ponds instead of seafronts and lakes. The BMC has asked citizens to refrain from performing aarti at the immersion spot and instead asked them to perform the aarti at the venue of the mandal. It has asked all mandal to refrain from stopping the vehicles carrying the Ganpati idols anywhere on the road while taking the idol for immersion and then drop the idols at the collection points set up by the BMC.
“Even the procession to bring home household Ganpati idols should not be in the form of a procession. There should be a group of maximum of five people for arrival processions. If possible, these individuals should have taken two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and should have completed 15 days after taking the second dose. The idol should not be more than two feet high for domestic celebrations. There will not be more than 10 people in processions of Ganpati Mandals. All devotees should wear masks and observe social distancing. Also, these 10 people should have taken 2 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and 15 days must have passed after taking the second dose. The idol should not be more than 4 feet high for public celebrations,” the BMC said in its guidelines.
“The idol for the domestic Ganpatis should preferably be made of clay or, if possible, metal or marble idols in the house should be worshiped instead of the traditional clay idols this year. Considering the potential danger of the Covid third wave, devotees are strictly forbidden to take darshan. It was decided that
Ganeshotsav
Mandals should provide darshan facility to the devotees through online, cable network, website, Facebook, social media etc,” the BMC said.
The BMC has said that if the household Ganesha idol is made of clay or is environmentally friendly, it should be immersed in a bucket or drum at home if possible. “At the time of immersion of household Ganpati, there should be no processions. If at all there is a procession, there should be a maximum of 5 persons for immersion. If possible, these individuals should have taken 2 doses of Covid-19 vaccine and 15 days must have passed after taking the second dose," the BMC said.
The BMC said that immersion of the idols in the containment zones should be done inside the premise of the mandal itself or the immersion should be postponed. “Arrangements have to be made at home for immersion of Ganpati idols in sealed buildings. If the house/building is declared as a containment zone during the festival, containment zone rules should be followed.