Religious Places to Re-open in Maha from 16 Nov, Masks Compulsory

Wearing a mask will be compulsory, and all COVID norms will have to be followed.

File photos of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and state minister Aditya Thackeray.

(Photo Courtesy: PTI)

All religious places in Maharashtra are set to re-open for devotees from Monday, 16 November, according to ANI.

Citing the Maharashtra government, the report stated that wearing a mask will be compulsory, and all COVID-19 norms will have to be followed.

Thackeray had earlier held discussions with all divisional commissioners and district collectors of the state, where he had announced that places of worship in Maharashtra will re-open soon.

This development comes a month after exchange of letters between Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Thackeray over the re-opening of temples in the state. Koshyari had, in October, requested the CM to “announce forthwith the reopening of all the places of worship with all necessary COVID-19 precautions”.

CM Thackeray later responded to the Governor with his own letter, saying that since imposing lockdown all of a sudden was not right, lifting it completely at once will also be not a good thing. He added that he would take a decision after careful consideration at the soonest.

People Welcome Government's Decision

Maharashtra minister Jayant Patil welcomed the decision and said, “The decision has come at the right time when the number of corona patients is low. The rules will be the same for all the religious places. The use of masks, sanitisers would be mandatory. Social distancing is very important.”

Maharashtra has the highest caseload in the country at over 17.4 lakh cases since the pandemic began. Nearly 46,000 people have lost their lives in the state. Maharashtra recorded 4,132 new coronavirus cases on Friday, 13 November. The recovery rate of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra is 92.48 percent while the fatality rate is 2.63 percent.