Delhi adds 40 deaths, 1,849 fresh cases
New Delhi: As Delhi on Monday added 40 COVID-19 death to its toll from the virus, taking total fatalities to 5,809; various committees organising Ramlila events, including the one at the Red Fort grounds have said that they "have decided not to" hold the event as the situation was not favourable.
The Capital reported 1,849 fresh cases, taking the infection tally to over 3.11 lakh, authorities said. The relatively low number of fresh cases resulted from the 35,947 tests conducted the previous day.
The Ramlila committees believe there were "too many restrictions" in the fresh guidelines issued for holding events, an official of their umbrella body said on Monday. Representatives of various Ramlila committees also said the situation due to COVID-19 anyway means, holding large-scale gathering will not be a very suitable decision keeping public safety in mind.
"We begin our preparations at least two months in advance. Dusshera is on October 25 and DDMA authorities issued fresh guidelines yesterday. Earlier, they couldn't due to rising number of cases. But, it is not possible to make arrangements at the last moment, so we have decided to not hold it this year," said Arjun Kumar of Lav Kush Ramlila Committee, which has been organising the event at the Red Fort front lawns for over 40 years.
Kumar, also the general secretary of Delhi Shri Ramlila Mahasangh, which is an umbrella body of various Ramlila organising committees in Delhi, said, "Today, we had a talk with representatives of other major organising committees, and we all have decided not to hold the events this year as situation is neither conducive nor feasible to execute the plan now".
On October 10 as well as on September 29, 48 fatalities were reported in the city, the highest number of deaths recorded in a day since July 16 when Delhi saw 58 fatalities.
The tally of active cases on Monday, however, dropped to 20,535 from 21,701 the previous day. Of these, 12,385 patients are recovering under home isolation.
Kumar claimed that there are about 800 big and small organising committees in Delhi and even the "smaller ones have decided against it".
Ravi Jain of Shri Dharmik Ramlila Committee, which was established in 1924, said, new guidelines have been issued "at the last moment" and that too with too much restrictions.
"If anyone is found standing or sitting, then it won't be allowed. How do we know, what people will do, we can only ask then to follow the guidelines. Also, permissions needed at so many levels, from police to MCD, it is not feasible to hold Ramlila now, in such a short period of time,"
he said.
The Lav Kush Ramlila Committee's representative also said, experts have said that COVID-19 cases might flare up here due to large gatherings during upcoming festive seasons. "We don't want to put anyone's safety at risk, so in all ways situation not favourable to hold such events,"
he added.
