Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa held a meeting with senior officials on the precautions to be taken against the spread of COVID-19 during Dasara celebrations in Mysuru.
Apart from Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar, the meeting held at the Chief Minister’s Home Office ‘Krishna’ was attended by Chief Secretary T.M. Vijaybhaskar, Additional Chief Secretary Javed Akhtar, Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Tourism Department’s Principal Secretary T.K. Anil Kumar and Mysuru’s Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri.
Mr. Sudhakar tweeted that the meeting discussed the precautions to be taken to ensure the health and safety of the general public and tourists visiting Mysuru for Dasara amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting comes after a COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee visited Mysuru and submitted a report to the government, imposing restrictions during the celebrations of the annual Dasara festival, which is scheduled to begin on October 17.
Among other things, the committee has recommended that the gathering for the inauguration atop Chamundi Hills should not be more than 200 while the number of people gathering inside Mysuru palace for the Vijayadashami procession should be restricted to 300. Also, the committee has made it mandatory for all participants including officials, security personnel, staff, media, artistes and others to undergo RT-PCR tests conducted after October 14.
Meanwhile, Minister for Co-operation S.T. Somashekar, who is also the Minister in-charge of Mysuru district, made a telephonic call to former Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru Abhiram G. Sankar, inviting him to the Dasara festivities.
Mr. Sankar, who has recently been posted in the IAS Training Centre at Mussoorie, had served as Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru for two years and four months. Mr. Sankar, however, said he would not able to make in view of work, but hoped the festival would go on smoothly without hurdles.