Bhubaneswar, Jun 12 (PTI) Throwing social distancing norms to the wind, hundreds of people in different parts of Odisha on Friday rushed to the market places for Raja festival shopping forcing authorities to close down shops despite government extending the night curfew till 10 pm in the night.

Such incidents were witnessed in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Balasore, Bhadrak where the local administration had to intervene and close markets in view of the breach of social distancing norm imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19.

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The three-day (June 13 to June 16) Raja festival, is celebrated in Odisha marking menstruation and womanhood. It is based on the belief that Mother Earth menstruates for those three days and she is given a ceremonial bath on the fourth day. The festival is celebrated in a big way in coastal and tribal regions of the state.

In most parts of the state, women wear new dresses and keep themselves busy in merrymaking without doing any household work. Keeping in view the festive mood, the state government had extended the night curfew from 7 pm till 10 pm to enable people to go for shopping by maintaining social distancing.

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However, there was no such social distancing anywhere in the state capital. The authorities of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) had to seal the citys major commercial complex The Market Building at Unit-2 and the main Haat in Unit-1, in a crackdown against COVID-19 norm violation.

The BMC on Thursday had also forcibly closed 20 major shops. "The decision to seal the market building was taken after witnessing a huge crowd. It was observed that all the prescribed norms of social distancing were flouted by shop owners and the customers," a senior official said.

The official also pointed out that many people were also found making last minute shopping without wearing mandatory face masks.

As June is considered the most crucial month to contain the COVID which has already crossed 3,000 marks in the state, the district administration of Keonjhar, Khurda and Ganjam have imposed prohibitory orders banning congregation of people in certain places.

The authorities also put restriction on the worship of Goddesses in certain temples where people used to rush on Raja festival. All the three district administrations have also banned "Raja Doli" (a swing where girls and women play as part of merrymaking) in public places, an official said. The district administration of Ganjam has also not allowed the people for shopping for extra hours for the Raja festival on Friday even as the state government relaxed in the night curfew for three hours.

"Any kind of gathering for celebration festival like Raja Doli, Mela and traditional games related to the Raja festival in the district is strictly prohibited from June 11 to 16," said Ganjam collector VA Kulange in an order issued on Friday.

He said sponsoring organizations for these types of gatherings should also be discouraged.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)