India's western state re-opens places of worship after 8 months

MUMBAI -- Places of religious worship in India's western state of Maharashtra, after being closed for eight months, were re-opened on Monday as per the standard operating procedures (SOPs) laid down by the government.

As per the SOPs, only asymptomatic people are being allowed inside places of worship and wearing of face mask is a mandatory for all.

The trustees at such places will have to facilitate thermal scanning and ensure availability of hand wash or sanitizers. The number of people to be allowed at a particular time will be determined based on the size of the structure and ventilation.

Mumbai's iconic Siddhivinayak temple has only allowed 1,000 devotees inside the temple per day in staggered time slots to be booked through a mobile phone application.

Maharashtra was the worst affected Indian state accounting for 45,974 deaths out of 130,070 deaths in the country so far. However, the active cases in the state has been on the decline for the past few weeks.