Calcutta HC urges Bengal govt to consider plea to ban Ganga Sagar Mela – Hindustan Times

Amid an alarming rise in Covid-19 cases in West Bengal, the Calcutta High Court has sought a response from the Mamata Banerjee led administration on whether the state wants to impose a ban on this year’s Ganga Sagar mela or go ahead with it with restrictions.

In another development the state government decided to postpone the 27th Kolkata International Film Festival. The week-long KIFF was scheduled to take off from January 7.

“Having regard for the severity of the spread of the Covid-19 virus, we expect that the state will seriously consider the plea to ban the mela this year,” the court said.

A division bench of the high court, headed by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava was hearing a PIL filed by a doctor, Avinandan Mondol who contended that the Covid-19 infection may spread further if millions of pilgrims are allowed to converge at Ganga Sagar to take the holy dip at the confluence of River Ganges and Bay of Bengal on the occasion of Makar Sankranti on January 15.

The court directed the state government to take a decision while considering certain aspects such as possibility of spread of the virus through water when millions of pilgrims, some of whom may be infected, take the holy dip.

“The state government has been asked to file an affidavit on Thursday when the matter comes up for hearing again,” said Srijib Chakraborty, advocate representing the petitioner.

The daily count of Covid-19 cases has shot up more than 16 times in the last ten days in the state. On Tuesday, West Bengal reported 9,073 new Covid-19 cases up from the daily count of 544 reported on December 26. In Kolkata, 4,759 new cases were reported on Tuesday, the highest among all districts in the state. North 24 Parganas with 1,391 fresh cases came second.

Experts have blamed it on the huge congregation of people in Park Street and its surrounding areas on Christmas. Videos and pictures, which went viral, showed thousands of people gathering on Park Street with no regard for Covid-19 safety norms.

The state government had relaxed the night curfew (11pm – 5am) from December 24, 2021 to January 1, 2022 in view of Christmas and New Year celebrations.

On January 2, however, the West Bengal government imposed stricter restrictions till January 15 by closing schools and colleges, limiting the workforce across offices and restricting flights from Delhi and Mumbai.

Swimming pools, spas, gyms, salons and beauty parlours, entertainment parks and tourist places will remain closed, while shopping malls, markets, restaurants and bars will be allowed to operate with 50% capacity till 10 pm. Night curfew, from 10 pm to 5 am, has been re-imposed.

But despite the looming threat, the West Bengal State Election Commission has said that elections in four municipalities in the state would be held on January 22 as per schedule. The poll panel has also allowed political meetings with a maximum capacity of 500 people in large open grounds.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has postponed the visit of the party’s national president JP Nadda ahead of the municipal polls.