Focus on hygiene at places of worship in Kolkata

KOLKATA: The vicar general of the archdiocese of Kolkata, Dominic Gomes, visited several Roman Catholic churches on Friday to see whether the establishments were following the norms for social distancing, sanitisation and wearing masks. While meetings were held with parish priests on the way forward, whoever was found not complying with the rules—mostly by mistake—was counselled.Looking to minimize the risk of contamination, the Behala Gurdwara roped in volunteers under Satnam Singh Ahluwalia to sanitise places of worship of all faiths, be it a church, a temple a mosque or a gurdwara.
Ahluwalia, along with his team, armed with advanced techniques of disinfection, cleansed not only Behala Gurudwara but also Bauddha Dharmankur Sabha, St Teresa’s Church as well as Tipu Sultan Mosque.
Big temples, like Dakshineshwar and Kalighat, which are about to reopen, have decided to impose strict rules in the shopping arcades attached to the temples. All shopkeepers selling flowers, sweets for prasad, idols and other trinkets have been told to wear masks as well as gloves to minimise contact. They will have to first sanitise the buyers’ hands every time any exchange or transaction is carried out. At the snack stalls, customers will not be allowed to sit and eat; they can, however, buy food and take it away. “We are not only planning SOPs for the temple but also for the arcades. That will be our first checkpoint,” said Kushal Chowdhury, spokesperson for Dakshineshwar Temple Trust.
As part of his day-long visits, vicar general Gomes inspected Fatima Shrine on CIT Road, Our Lady Valilankani Church at Picnic Gardens, Christ the King Church at Park Circus and St Teresa Church at Moulali. He assessed the entire exercise imposed since June 1: right from sanitisation to two ushers being present at the gates to see each worshipper was masked and to show him or her to the designated seat. “Some worshippers were casual about masks. While church authorities demarcated seats and tried to ensure social distancing, some parishioners had to be told to sit apart. We have asked individual parish priests to strictly implement the norms,” said Gomes. Each seat is disinfected the moment a worshipper vacates it. Gomes was, however, happy with the sanitization measures of the churches their inventories of disinfectants, gloves and hand sanitisers.