God will hear you, even if you don’t crowd pandals

Kids celebrate while devotees pray without masks at a pandal in Goregaon East. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Though there is a ban on physical darshan at Ganesh pandals in Mumbai, one would not believe it if one saw the smaller pandals. The bigger mandals are following COVID-19 protocols with most offering online darshan, but the smaller mandals are seeing crowds, especially at aarti times. Civic authorities claimed it is the job of the police to ensure order at these mandals, the police said things were under control, a report stated in this paper.

Not everybody is following the online darshan ruling, but in that case, we need to see order in the smaller pandals that are allowing devotees in for darshan.
The aarti is of course a big draw, but one cannot use that and allow large numbers of people inside the small spaces. Even at these times, only a very small number, one you can count on your fingers, should be allowed. Also, they have to ensure that devotees move out very quickly in a minute or two at the most.

Ideally, every mandal should have followed the online darshan ruling but we do see devotees getting access in some places. If any mandal is crowded and not following COVID-19 protocol, action must be firm. Stop all devotees from accessing that space, so that organisers, too, realise that this is a very serious situation and there can be no excuse for flouting rules.

Most importantly every mandal volunteer and organiser needs to be masked. These are the people who will be talking, giving orders, moving people along, guiding devotees and they must be properly masked with, of course, devotees being refused entry if they do not wear a mask.

This festival cannot spiral out of control in any way, certainly not in the small lanes and nooks where small mandals are set up. We pray to the Divine but with safety first.