In view of COVID-19 situation, District Collector Ravindra Thakre appealed to the citizens that this year people should celebrate Ganesh festival in a simple manner at their residences and not on a mass scale.
The guidelines except urban area include: For mass level festival, the Ganeshotsav mandals are required to take prior permission of Municipal Corporation, Councils and local administration as per their planning.
The pandals should be small in size and according to the rules by the administration; the Ganesh festival in respective houses should be celebrated in simple manner; no decoration is required; the Ganesh idol size for mass level should be 4 ft and for household festival it should be 2 ft; this year people should install metal or marble idols; eco-friendly Ganesh festival is preferable; the immersion of Ganesh idols should be avoided and people should immerse their idols in the next year if possible to protect people from infections; Ganesh mandals should not advertise their festivals; they should not force people for donations; instead of cultural programmes they should organise health care camps, blood donation camps, plasma donation camp and awareness programmes; while performing aarti, bhajan, kirtan and other religious programmes, the mandals should avoid mass gathering and follow the rules regarding pollution and cleanliness; the mandals should make arrangements to make darshan available through social media, cable network and websites; mandals should provide facilities of sanitisation and thermal screening in the pandal; they should follow physical distancing, applying of masks, sanitisers etc.; mandals should not organise processions; they should make arrangements of artificial immersion lakes with the help of Municipal Corporation different organisations, housing development societies; voluntary organisations etc. The sculptors should follow all rules of social distancing and sanitations while making and handing over Ganesh idols; the citizens should strictly follow the rules.