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Sandeep Rana
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 9
It seems the Covid-19 scare, coupled with the restrictions on timings and number of guests, has kept people away from booking community centres in the city.
While these centres were thrown open to the public for booking on June 4, only 35 bookings have been made so far. While 32 bookings are for marriage purposes, three are for antim ardas or bhog. Most of these bookings are for June.
No permission required
MC officials said for holding a marriage or bhog at community centres, no permission was required from the Deputy Commissioner. However, in case an applicant wanted to hold an event after 9 pm, permission was mandatory.
Bookings can be made at Sampark Centres and charges vary between Rs29,000 and Rs50,000 depending on the category and area.
The civic body faced a loss of around Rs70 lakh due to the closure of community centres during the lockdown. The MC earns Rs1 lakh daily on an average.
“Earlier, these many bookings were made in a single day. Many reasons can be attributed to the poor response. The community centres are allowed to open from 5 am to 9 pm even though marriages continue till late at night. The limit on the number of guests and fear of contracting Covid-19 are among the other major factors,” said an official.
“People may be preferring hotels to community centres as these can accommodate guests in rooms. We hope the situation normalises soon,” he said.
Events were allowed at community centres from June 8 as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Of the 46 community centres in the city, bookings are barred in seven — Sector 23-D, Sector 47-B, Sector 49, Sarangpur, Dhanas and two in Maloya — as these centres have been kept reserved for quarantine/isolation facilities.
A maximum of 50 persons can participate in a marriage, while 20 persons can attend bhog. The attendees have to wear mask and practise social distancing.
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