All places of worship in Maharashtra to reopen from Monday

Mumbai:  In a significant decision, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said that all places of worship in the state will be thrown open to people from Monday.
Bowing before demands from various quarters, Thackeray made the formal announcement coinciding with the auspicious Diwali celebrations.
All places of worship – temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras, viharas, fire temples, etc – have been shut since early March in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.
Now, they will be reopened after following all Covid-19 protocols like crowd control, physical distancing, sanitising the premises regularly, etc, as per the SOPs to be separately issued for the purpose, said Thackeray.
Though certain other states gradually opened up the places of worship, in Maharashtra – the worst-hit by the pandemic – they remained shut to avoid further spread of the virus.
In the current calendar year, all major religious festivals like Holi, Gudi Padva, Ramzan Eid, Dahi Handi, Ganeshotsav, Navroze, Navratri, etc were celebrated by the people in their homes.