No Chhath celebrations at public places, river banks: DDMA

New Delhi: No Chhath celebrations will be allowed at public places and river banks in the national Capital, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority announced on Thursday, even as it lifted restrictions on large gatherings and congregations for events related to festivals such as Ramleela and Durga Puja.

The authority in its fresh COVID-19 guidelines said restrictions on large gatherings have been relaxed only to the extent of celebration of festivals till November 15.

"Fairs, melas, food stalls, jhoolas, rallies and processions will not be permitted during festivals in Delhi. Chhath puja celebration shall not be allowed in public places, river banks, ghats and temples and people are advised to celebrate the same at their homes," Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev said in an official order.

"All event organisers will have to obtain requisite permissions from the district magistrate (DM) concerned for organising festival events, well in advance. No permission shall be granted by DMs or authorities for conducting any event in containment zones," the order said.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) said permissions will be given on the basis of a joint inspection report from an area's Station House Officer, executive magistrate and licensing inspector of the municipal corporation concerned.

This shall clearly certify that the festival celebration site is suitable for conduct of events, and meets all stipulations, it said.

The DM concerned and the district Deputy Commissioner of Police will appoint an officer of suitable seniority as nodal officer for each site, venue of Ramleela, Puja pandal etc, the order said.

"These nodal officers shall be responsible to ensure strict compliance of this order and the enclosed SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) as well as other guidelines issued from time to time to contain the spread of COVID-19," it said.

It will be mandatory for organisers to videograph the event or programme from the starting to the end on a daily basis, the order said.

It stated that a soft copy of the unedited video recording and a certificate, saying no violation of SOPs issued by the Centre and the Delhi government has taken place, will have to be submitted to nodal officers within three hours of the programme ending.

"The video recording will have to be reviewed by nodal officers daily and in case of any violation being found, they shall report to the DM and DCP concerned, and the permission granted for such programme or event will be withdrawn for subsequent days," the DDMA said.

It has clarified that no standing or squatting will be allowed at festive events and only sitting on chairs with social distancing will be permitted.

Separate entry and exit gates at venues, mandatory face masks, thermal scanning and utilising CCTV cameras to monitor compliance of physical distancing and use of masks, are among the SOPs issued by the authority for the festive events.

"The capacity of each event site will be decided on basis of area and social distancing norms. In a closed space a maximum of 50 per cent of hall capacity will be allowed and in open spaces, the capacity will be decided keeping the size of a ground in view and in observance of social distancing norms," the DDMA said.

"It may be noted that restrictions on gatherings and large congregations imposed earlier are being relaxed only to the extent of allowing celebrations of upcoming festivals till November 15," it added.

Meanwhile, Delhi Environment minister Gopal Rai on Thursday urged citizens to keep their vehicles off at the red light in traffic and reduce the number of trips to prevent air pollution in the national Capital. Every year, Delhi grapples with severe smog around October and November due to stubble burning, vehicular pollution and biomass burning, among other factors. Setting forth the agenda for Delhi's winter action plan this year, Rai said that the contribution of citizens towards pollution control is as important as the steps taken by the government.

"We wanted to collect the feedback from these organisations on our efforts and seek their suggestions. Most of the people said that the 'Red light on Gaadi off' campaign should be continued," he told reporters.