BMC restricts gathering for home installation of Ganesh idols
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said only five people should participate in arrival and immersion processions of domestic Lord Ganesh idols during the Ganpati festival next month in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The BMC, which is spearheading Mumbai's fight against coronavirus, on Thursday made a special appeal to citizens in this regard ahead of the festival to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the metropolis, which has recorded more than 1 lakh cases and nearly 6,000 deaths so far. Besides public installation of Lord Ganesh idols, thousands of people install such idols at home and immerse them on different days during the 10-day festival, the most popular religious event in Maharashtra. Requesting people to refrain from doing any act that leads to the spread of COVID-19, the civic body, in a release, warned that violators may invite strict action under relevant sections of the Epidemic Act 1897, the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and the Indian Penal Code. As...