West Tripura district administration has shut down a puja panadal in Agartala after visuals of big crowd gathered there went viral on social media.
The district administration on Monday ordered Bharat Ratna Sangha, the organisers of the city’s one of the biggest Durga Puja pandal, to shut it down and immerse the idol the same evening, Indian Express reported.
West Tripura District Magistrate Shailesh Kumar Yadav in an order issued on Monday, said the state government had issued specific guidelines under The Disaster Management Act, 2005 for strict compliance by the club or community puja organizers to avoid community transmission of COVID-19.
“Pradyut Dhar Chowdhury, general secretary of the Bharat Ratna Sangha, Ushabazaar has submitted a notarial affidavit along with the application for Puja permission, declaring that they will allow 10-15 visitors at a time in the club premises and such gathering will be in conformity to the social distancing norms….on 24th October 2020, during the evening and night hours, there was assembly of about thousand people/.visitors in the Durga Puja pandal premises of Bharat Ratna Sangha, Ushabazaar, violating all COVId-19 safety norms which is a sheer violation…”, the order reads.
The Tripura government revised its Durga Puja guidelines twice in the last one month as the High Court asked the government to continue vigilance and hold a massive awareness campaign to avoid the spread of coronavirus during the festival period.