The Calcutta High Court on Monday ordered that no one, apart from organisers, will be allowed to enter the Durga Puja pandals as they have been declared as a “no-entry zone,” news agency ANI reported. The order said that the names of people, who can enter the pandal, will be displayed outside the pandals, ANI reported. 

A division bench of the high court comprising Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Arijit Banerjee, hearing a public interest litigation, said that no visitors will be allowed to enter the marquees.

The order by the court comes in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, just three days ahead of the festival. West Bengal has registered more than 3.2 lakh cases of coronavirus and more than 6,000 deaths from COVID-19.  

The court has ordered organisers to erect barricades at the entrance of the pandals, with a distance of five metres for small pandals and 10 for big ones. The court order added that the number of organisers of small Durga Pandals pandals has been limited to 15 and 25 for the bigger ones.