Won’t turn away devotees at pandals, say Ganesh mandals in Mumbai

The mandals in the city have been spreading the word on social media platforms about online darshan of Bappa but they said if devotees still turn up at their gates during the festival they wonrsquot turn them away ldquoHow can we stop devotees if they come to the pandal Turning them back is the job of the police not oursrdquo various popular mandals told midday on MondaySeveral mandals said that they cannot stop devotees from visiting the pandals to seek blessings of Lord Ganesha as that might hurt their sentimentsWith temples in the city currently shut owing to the Covid19 restrictions there are many who are waiting for their dearest Bappa to arrive The sight of various public places mdash jampacked with people marketing and throwing caution to the wind mdash shows the mood of the citizens is to celebrate the festival with zestHowever this could hurt the city as experts have warned that the festivities without precautions could trigger the third outbreak of novel CoronavirusMumbai cha Raja visarjan in an artificial pond at Ganesh galli last year PicPradeep DhivarMoreover despite officials reiterating that only online darshan has to be allowed this year many popular mandals have decided to allow people at pandalsMumbais popular Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal did not celebrate the festival last year but has made arrangements for lsquomukhdarshanrsquo viewing of the idol from a distance this time around At a meeting on Monday the city police told the mandal to not allow physical lsquomukhdarshanrsquoDuring the preCovid19 era Lalbaugcha Raja mandal would organise two queues mdash one for lsquomukhdarshanrsquo and another for feetdarshan for devotees to touch the idols feet which wont happen this yearThe mandal representatives said they will follow whatever guidelines the government and the local administration announce but they wont stand at the gate to turn away the devotees Thats the polices job they addedSudhir Salvi the secretary of the mandal said ldquoWe have made arrangements for the queue for lsquomukhdarshanrsquo but at the same time we are appealing to the citizens to take darshan online However in case devotees queue up outside the pandal we have asked police to handle the situation as we cannot ask them to leaverdquoSwapnil Parab of Lalbaug Sarvajanik Utsav Mandal Ganesh Gully another popular mandal in the city said ldquoWe are publicising through our social media platforms to seek the blessings of Lord Ganesha through our website We are hoping that citizens will listen to our appeal and prefer the online darshanrdquoThe mandal however has distributed about 3500 identity cards to the local residents for a visit to the pandal They are the regular monetary contributors of the mandal Parab said ldquoThese are the same residents who were allowed even last yearrdquoA civic official said ldquoWhile the mood last year was of fear and worry and the festival was celebrated at a low scale this year citizens seem to be in the mood for celebration Last year despite strict restrictions the peak of Covid19 was noticed after Ganeshotsav This year there is a warning of a third wave hitting the city around the same time It is important that the citizens follow the Covidappropriate behaviourrdquo3500No of ID cards issued by Lalbaug Sarvajanik Utsav Mandal for physical darshan10 septDay Ganeshotsav begins this year