Mumbai corporation asks Navratri mandals to arrange online darshan of idols

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday issued guidelines for the upcoming Navratri festival, in which it suggested the 'sarvajanik (community) mandals' in the city to arrange online darshan of goddess idols for public in view of the pandemic.

The Maharashtra government has already issued guidelines and capped the height of the goddess Durga idols to four feet for the 'mandals' and two feet for the household ones.

In its guidelines, the civic body has kept the same height restrictions for the idols.

It also appealed to the citizens to follow the Covid-19 protocols strictly during the Navratri festival, which starts on October 17.

In a statement, the BMC said that it has also asked the 'mandals' to sanitise the pandals properly and follow all the social distancing norms strictly.

The civic body also asked the citizens to wear masks, maintain at least two feet of distance between each other and wash hands regularly.