BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday gave its nod to reopening of religious institutions and places of worship in the State Capital from August 23.The civic body, however, has asked the Lingaraj temple administration to take decision on reopening of the shrine for devotees.
The BMC order said that at any point of time, the maximum number of devotees to be allowed inside Lingaraj temple premises (from Singhadwar to Ada-Katha) will not exceed 100. Devotees will not be allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum and make any offering to the Lord.While BMC will set up barricades outside the temple, police will be deployed to regulate the crowd.For other temples, too, the civic body has prohibited entry into the sanctum sanctorum and there shall be no offering of ‘prasad’.
Similarly all other religious institutions like church, gurudwara and mosque will open from August 23 with adequate Covid-19 safety measures in place. Authorities of these institutions will ensure that devotees maintain a social distance of six feet and the maximum number of people to be allowed inside will not exceed 25.
The managements of temples, mosques, churches and gurudwaras will ensure RT-PCR testing of their servitors/staff and only those found negative and having final Covid vaccination certificate would be allowed to perform rituals. There will be a ban on spitting on the premises and chewing of paan and gutka.
Any deviation of the BMC order will lead to closure of the place of worship, the BMC order said.