Weddings get postponed in city

PATNA: The appeal made by CM Nitish Kumar to postpone weddings and other social gatherings in view of Covid surge has found many takers.
One Sachitdnand Singh, whose daughter was scheduled to get married on May 21, has postponed the wedding for the time being. “Since several of our family members are suffering from Covid, we cannot host the wedding celebrations in their absence. It seems risky to organise any function even with 50 people.”
As per an order issued by the state government on April 18, not more than 100 people were allowed to assemble at a marriage function. The number was further reduced to 50 through another order issued by the home department on April 28. DJ was also prohibited as per the revised order. Finally, the lockdown order issued by the government on Tuesday kept the number of guests at 50 and prohibited any marriage procession.
Nidhi Agarwal, who was supposed to get married on May 7, said, “We have extended the ceremony to November as four of our family members have tested positive for Covid. I can’t celebrate my big day with uncertainties around.”
Owners of banquet halls and other businesses associated with wedding industry too said it has become risky to make the arrangements under the prevailing scenario.
Pankaj Ranjan, managing partner of a banquet hall on Ashiana-Digha Road, said several weddings, which were scheduled to be held in May-June, have been postponed. “Clients say that there is no point in hosting marriage functions amid pandemic. They are calling off the wedding themselves.”
Rajkumar Raja , who owns a catering business at Raja Bazaar, said, “All our bookings of for the months of May and June have been shifted to November. In fact, we will be dealing with our old bookings next wedding season.”