Tura (Meghalaya), August 19 : The West Garo Hills District Magistrate, Ram Singh had passed an order on Wednesday, Aug 18 under the provisions of Section 144 of the CrPC thereby allowing the opening of religious places on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m to 3 p.m to enable the people to worship in the respective localities subject to strict compliance to the Covid-19 SOPs which include physical distancing, mandatory use of face covers or masks, availability of hand-washing facility with soap or alcohol based hand sanitizers and prohibition of spitting in the premises of religious places.
The order also said that in all religious places like churches, temples, mosques and other places of worship, the maximum number of people allowed should not exceed one-third of the seating capacity, the number of people allowed in marriage rituals in the places of worship should be limited to one-third of the seating capacity or 50 persons, the attendees in engagement or marriage ceremonies outside the places of worship should not exceed 20 people, wedding receptions are not allowed, prior permission should be taken from the District Magistrate regarding date, time and venue of the marriage ceremony.
Further, the order also advised the persons below 18 and 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities and pregnant women to stay home and the adherents of all religious faiths have been encouraged to get themselves vaccinated.
