Cuttack: Pandals erected for religious festivals must not completely block public roads or deny residents access to their homes, Orissa high court has said, asking the state govt to ensure adequate space for traffic and emergency vehicles, besides enforcing noise limits and time restrictions on celebrations.While declining to issue a direction to stop the religious ceremonies, a division bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo said community celebrations should not be discontinued merely because concerns were raised over traffic movement, provided reasonable safeguards were followed.The division bench made the observations while disposing of a public interest litigation filed by 81-year-old Sarat Kumar Gajendra, a resident of Badagada in Bhubaneswar. He approached the court on Sept 15, 2025, alleging that temporary structures set up for Ganesh Puja and Durga Puja, along with musical programmes, dance and orchestra performances, blocked a public road for about 10 days and made access to his house difficult.In its Oct 16 judgment, uploaded on the court website on Oct 18, the bench emphasised that religious celebrations must be organised without depriving people of their basic right to movement.“The Government should ensure that there is no complete disruption in the movement of the vehicles, nor the persons should be denied a passage for ingress and egress,” the court said.The state govt, in its affidavits, claimed that puja pandals are not allowed to block roads in their entirety, ensuring a 22-foot passage is left for the movement of vehicles. Additional govt advocate Debashis Tripathy represented the state.Though the petitioner appeared in person and strongly contested this claim, the bench said it would accept a statement that appeared reasonable when rival versions were presented through affidavits.The court made it clear that permissions for religious festivals must come with safeguards to prevent traffic disruption. It said adequate distance should be maintained to allow emergency vehicles to pass and reach residents during exigencies.The govt was also asked to ensure compliance with permissible sound limits and prescribed deadlines beyond which festive activities should not continue.The bench said a congenial religious atmosphere should be maintained, with little scope for unrelated activities.Structures erected on public roads must be of appropriate dimensions so that they do not “eclipse the right of movement”, the judges added.