Navratri 2021: Gujarat relaxes night curfew in 8 cities, allows ‘Garba’

However, commercial organization of Garba events will not be allowed this year.

Garba, a popular folk dance of Gujarat, is performed during the Navratri festival, which will begin from October 7 this year.

In an advisory issued today, the government has fixed a crowd limit of 400 people to gather at any one place for Navratri celebrations.

The government said that it is mandatory for those participating in Navratri celebrations to be fully vaccinated against the corona virus. Last year, Garba events were banned due to the pandemic.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel today chaired a meeting with Home Department officials and decided to relax the night curfew timings in eight cities – Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Junagadh and Gandhinagar.

Earlier the curfew period was from 11 pm to 6 am, but now there will be curfew from 12 pm to 6 am in these eight cities, where night curfew has been imposed to curb the cases of corona virus. The timing of the new night curfew will be applicable from September 25 to October 10.

“With regard to the celebration of Navratri, it has been decided that no commercial Garba, which is mostly organized in party plots (open site) and clubs, will be permitted. However, people can organize Garba in such gatherings with a limit of 400 people in their housing societies and on the streets,” the government said in a statement.

Similarly Durga Puja (starting from October 11), Vijayadashami (October 15) and Sharad Purnima (October 19) festivities can also be held with a limit of 400 people.

The state government has also allowed the participation of 400 people in marriages instead of the earlier limit of 150. For funerals, the limit of attendees has been increased to 100 from the earlier 40.

The state government has also allowed hotels and restaurants to use 75% of their seating capacity, instead of the earlier limit of 60%. Restaurants can remain open till 10 pm. The government has increased the timing of public parks from 9 pm to 10 pm.

(with inputs from PTI)