Mumbai's Siddhivinayak temple caps visitors to '1000 per day' as it reopens after 8 months

After Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray allowed the reopen religious places from Monday, Mumbai's iconic Siddhivinayak temple is gearing up to reopen after 8 months of lockdown. Adhering to Coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions, the temple trust's chairman Aadesh Bandekar said that only 100 devotees will be allowed every hour - capping the total devotees at 1000, per day. Maharashtra - which has seen a continued dip in COVID-19 cases - remains the worst-affected state with 16,98,784 cases and 45,914 fatalities.

Maharashtra govt releases SOP for preventing spread of COVID-19 in religious places

Siddhivinayak temple to reopen

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Maharashtra reopens religious places

On Saturday, the Maharashtra government released the SOP for the reopening of religious places outside containment zones in the state from November 16. While the Ministry of Home Affairs permitted the reopening of religious places in India from June 8 onwards, the Maharashtra government decided against implementing this relaxation back then owing to the COVID-19 crisis. Organizations managing religious institutions have been asked to advise people above the age of 65, persons with comorbidities, pregnant women and children below the age of 10 years to stay at home. The installation of the Aarogya Setu app has been encouraged by the state government.

Here are the guidelines:

• Entrance to have mandatory hand hygiene and thermal screening provisions
• Only asymptomatic persons to be allowed in the premises of the place of worship, with mandatory use of face masks
• Posters on preventive measures about COVID-19 to be displayed prominently. Audio and video clips spreading awareness about COVID-19 should be regularly played in all places of worship
• Staggering of visitors will be done by the trust managing the religious place in consultation with the local authorities
• All shops, stalls, etc. outside and within the premises shall follow social distancing norms
• The seating arrangement should be made in a way that adequate social distancing is maintained
• Touching of holy books/ idols etc. is not allowed
• Large gatherings to remain prohibited

Meanwhile, BJP MLA Ram Kadam on Saturday lashed out at the Maharashtra government for delaying the reopening of places of worship for devotees. Kadam lamented that the state government did not pay heed to BJP's protests in this regard for the last three months. According to him, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government took this decision because it got scared of the "people's anger". He dubbed this development as a "big victory of the people".