For combating COVID-19 in the festival season, the government on Wednesday came out with a set of guidelines to limit the number of people to 100 for any Dasara festivities in the State.
The guidelines issued by Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar also put guidelines for Deepavali celebrations. It said that only licensed shops would be allowed to sell firecrackers from November 1 to 17 at prescribed places. Shops should be set up by maintaining distance of six metres to ensure free flow of air, it said.
The permission granted by authorities should be displayed for public view by owners of shops. Shop owners must provide sanitizers and thermal scanning for the visiting public, it said.
For Dasara, the guidelines said that all programmes that cannot maintain social distance are banned. In Mysuru, famed for Dasara festivities, only 200 people, including the Chief Minister, dignitaries, officials and media personnel, would be allowed at the inauguration of the Dasara at Chamundi Hills on October 17.
The public has been banned from attending the programmes during Dasara in Mysuru and arrangements have been made for virtual watch of the programmes.
The cultural programmes would be held for eight days from October 17 in front of the palace for two hours in the evening. Maximum number of 50 artists would be allowed to participate in the programme a day.
The prominent places in Mysuru city would be beautified with lighting from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. for 10 days from October 17.
For the famous Jamboo Savari, only 300 people, including police, officials and media personnel, would be allowed, the guidelines said. RTPCR test has been made mandatory for all.
