'No Entry' boards placed outside pandals in West Bengal after court order

'No Entry' boards were placed outside Puja pandals in the Police Line area of Birbhum on Tuesday after Calcutta High Court declared pandals 'no-entry zones' for the visitors in West Bengal in view of the ongoing pandemic.

According to the court's order, only orgsers can enter the Puja pandals in the state.

The court had also ordered that people would not be allowed within a five-metre distance for small pandals and 10 metre for big pandals. The HC also asked each puja committee to submit a blueprint on crowd management.

Last week, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had urged Durga Puja committees not to allow people without masks in pandal during Puja celebrations.

Addressing a press conference here Banerjee had said, "I request Durga Puja committees to not allow people without masks in pandals. They should be kept in a separate zone. If puja committees can give masks then its fine, but we can't expect everyone to do the same."

This year, Durga Puja will be celebrated from October 23 to October 26. As the festive week of Navratri kicks off, devotees are looking forward to celebrate Durga Puja across India.

( With inputs from ANI )