Durga puja pandals will be no-entry zones for visitors, the Calcutta High Court said on October 19. This comes just three days ahead of Bengal's biggest festival. Only organisers will be allowed inside the pandals, the court said, limiting the number to 25 for big pandals and 15 for the smaller ones in view of the coronavirus outbreak. While bigger pujas will have to restrict entry 10 metres ahead of the pandals, smaller ones will have no entry zones from 5 metres. All puja committees will have to display 'No-Entry' boards at the demarcated areas. The state government will have to file a compliance report of this order within four days of Lakshmi Puja. Underscoring the need for compliance in view of public health, the High Court said there are not enough policemen in Kolkata to man crowds at the city's 3000-plus pandals. The court's directive came on a day when hordes of people were seen flocking big-ticket pandals in Kolkata, with little or no regard for social distancing norms. Last week, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced that revellers can go pandal-hopping from 'Tritiya' - three days before the rituals begin, to avoid crowding on the last four days of the annual extravaganza. In September, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced plans to "put coronavirus in lockdown and hold the puja this year. coronavirus figures have been on the rise across the city as people, over the past weeks, started shopping for the pujas. Social distancing rules went out of the window as they queued and jostled to get inside the shops. Masks were rarely worn. The number of cases in West Bengal has reached 3,25,038 with 6,119 deaths being reported.
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