No permission for 'garba' festival in Gujarat till August end

The famous Navratri festival of Gujarat will no longer be the same this year, thanks to COVID-19.  If what Chief Minister Vijay Rupani told 'garba' organizers in Gandhinagar on Monday is anything to go by, it isn't a rosy picture at all.

According to official sources, Rupani has categorically said that no permission will be given to organize garba till August end. He is also reported to have said that the decision will be reviewed only if COVID-19 situation improves.

A delegation of the 'garba' organisers had called on the chief minister to request permission for conducting the festival across the state as employment of lakhs of people is based on it.

The nine-night garba festival, in which revelers dance to the tune of 'garba' invoking blessings from Goddess Ambe, begins on October 17. Narendra Modi, when he was the chief minister of Gujarat, had described the 'garba' festival as the “longest dancing festival in the world”.

Rupani is also reported to have told the organizers how he had said no to various fairs in Saurashtra region during upcoming months. 

Rupani's stern decision came on a day when Gujarat reported 1,052 new COVID-19 positive cases, taking the total number of cases to 56,874. 

Highest number of cases – 204 – was reported from Surat Municipal Corporation limits, followed by 144 cases in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation limits and 82 in Vadodara Municipal Corporation limits. 

In 24 hours ending at 5 pm on Monday, the state also witnessed 22 deaths—five in Surat city, four in Surat district, four in Ahmedabad city and two in Vadodara city. With this, the COVID-19 death toll in Gujarat has gone up to 2,348.

An official release mentioned that 1,015 patients got discharged on Monday, taking the number of persons discharged to 41,380. It said that the recovery rate in Gujarat is 72.75 per cent. 

The state government said that on Monday 25,474 tests were done and it claimed that per million per day 391.90 tests were being carried out.

Fund for COVID-19

The government said that so far Rs 244 crore has been allocated from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for the control of the deadly virus and the treatment of COVID-19 positive patients. 

A government spokesperson said that Rs 50 crore has been given to the AMC, Rs 15 crore to the SMC and Rs 10 crore each to the Rajkot Municipal Corporation, Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation and Jamnagar Municipal Corporation. 

The state government also gave break-up of the amount used to buy life saving injections. It said that so far the kin of corona warriors have been given Rs 2.75 crore.