Angul: As the COVID-19 restrictions have been eased to a great extent, the restrictions on religious institutions should also be lifted, Angul residents have demanded.
The state government has left it on district administrations to take a call with respect to opening temples and other religious institutions considering the COVID-19 situation in their respective districts. The Angul town residents have urged the district administration to open the religious places for devotees.
The district administration can take the help of police administration and the concerned temple administration to ensure devotees entering temples in line with strict adherence to social distancing and wearing mask.
The temples across the district should be opened before the panchuka, the last five days of the Holy Kartik month, they observed.
“We have not visited any temples in eight months. We are holding ‘vrats’ during this Kartik month. The ‘vrats’ will be of no meaning if we cannot visit temples. So we request the district administration to open the temples with deployment of police,” observed Binapani Dei, an Angul town resident.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, all the religious places have been out of bounds for devotees. Meanwhile, festivals like Chaiti Durga puja, Rajo, Rath Yatra, Ganesh puja, Bishwakarma puja, Durga puja and Laxmi puja have already gone by. Kali puja is approaching and this will too be observed with restrictions.
Urging the government and district administration not to be so strict in case of religious places, town residents including Geetanjali Pattanayak, Priyabrata Behera and many others stressed that markets and malls have been opened.
In some states, the gates of temples have been opened for devotees. Similarly, cinema halls and gymnasiums have also been allowed to function.
“Recently the by-elections were held amidst COVID-19 guidelines. For that strong reason, the temples should be opened. If required, the temple management committees and local volunteers can also help to make sure everyone adheres to COVID-19 guidelines,” they opined.
“We think opening of temples will have no adverse impact on the present COVID-19 situation,” they added.
When contacted, Sub-Collector, Angul, Basudeb Satpathy said the COVID-19 restrictions are still in force. The government is yet to take a decision with respect to opening of temples.
For devotees, the Puri Jagannath Temple is also closed even during this holy Kartik month. The temples in the district will remain closed until any order from the government is received in this regard.
PNN
