Big fat wedding plans go awry, surge in Covid cases to blame

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 9

For Punjabis, winter is also the ‘marriage season’ and the recent surge in Covid cases across the country has affected their plans of hosting big fat weddings scheduled in the coming weeks.

With marriage palaces and banquet halls reporting 100 per cent occupancy in the last few weeks, the marriage season in the state was at its peak this year after the restrictions were eased.

It is a tricky situation. We have already sent the invites and the party is expected to be attended by 1,000 guests. We are also making arrangements, but if the government announces restrictions on gatherings at the last moment, we will be in a tight spot. Harjinder Singh, a groom-to-be’s father

However, the fear of another lockdown or at least the anticipation of a cap on gatherings at marriage palaces has troubled families, who had functions scheduled in the coming days.

“It is a tricky situation. We have already sent the invites and the party is expected to be attended by 1,000 guests. We are also making arrangements, but if the government announces restrictions on gatherings at the last moment, we will be in a tight spot,” said Harjinder Singh, whose son is scheduled to marry on January 27.

Many families had postponed or avoided big marriage parties last year due to restrictions and lockdown. It had also resulted in losses for those deployed in the industry. Charanjit Singh Sandhu, owner of a marriage palace, said: “The profitable season for marriage industry is of merely three months. For later part of the year, we are almost idle.” He said they had hoped that the business would continue but increasing number of cases indicate otherwise.

Amritsar district reports 305 Covid positive cases

Amritsar: With 305 persons testing positive for Covid in the district on Sunday, the number of active cases have surged to 1,208. The district has reported a total of 48,715 cases so far. The district Health Department has reported recovery of 19 patients in the last 24 hours with which the total recovery count has increased to 45,907. Meanwhile, 1,973 residents were inoculated during the vaccination drive on Sunday. The officials said so far, 1,613 children in the age group of 15 to 17 years have been given first dose of the vaccine. Of the residents inoculated on Sunday, 1,082 received the first dose, while 891 received the second dose. TNS