Mumbai: City officials’ feet of clay!

The CPCB issued detailed guidelines banning PoP idols In May 2020. Representation pic/Sameer Markande

Sculptors who create Ganesh idols from clay have expressed fears that the civic body will turn a blind eye towards plaster of Paris (PoP) statues. They claimed that officials were unable to provide them with details regarding the action that would be taken against PoP idols during a coordination meeting.

Vasant Raje, a member of Mumbai Murtikar Sanghatana, said a coordination meeting was held at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters headquarters on Tuesday in the presence of Deepak Kesarkar and Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the respective guardian ministers of Mumbai City and Suburban districts.

"During the meeting, I asked BMC officials about the action that will be taken against PoP idol-makers, but we did not receive a satisfactory answer," Raje said.
He added that officials only said that they would create public awareness about eco-friendly idols. "The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court will conduct a hearing on PoP idols on August 7. The court had already directed that PoP idols be banned. The BMC's attitude will not work in court," Raje said.

Raje also claimed that sculptors did not receive shadu clay from the BMC as promised. "I also raised this issue during the meeting. Officials told me that they had already provided shadu clay. We have around 250 members in our association, but no one received it from the civic body."

There are only 46 days left for arrival of Ganeshotsav, which will arrive on September 19.

In May 2020, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) issued detailed guidelines banning PoP idols, which are said to cause water pollution. The BMC decided to completely ban PoP idols in 2021 after it received a request for an extension from Ganesh mandals. This year, the civic body will follow the CPCB order. The BMC has restricted the height of household idols, which must be made from eco-friendly materials, to four feet. BJP MLA Ashish Shelar and Additional Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide were among the officials who attended Tuesday's meeting.

Bhide did not respond to mid-day's messages by press time.

The civic body has decided to develop 308 artificial ponds for immersion purposes. Last year, there were 178 such water bodies. The BMC also made it mandatory that household idols be immersed only in artificial ponds.

308
No. of artificial ponds BMC will set up

178
No. of artificial ponds set up last year

Organisation protests against restrictions

The Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti has raised its voice against the BMC for seeking written guarantees from mandals that they will go eco-friendly. Advocate Naresh Dahibavkar, president of the organisation, has written a letter to the civic body, stating that the BMC is asking mandals to guarantee that idols will not harm the environment and be less than four feet tall. Dahibavkar claimed that when he met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the latter agreed not to impose a height limit and restrictions on materials for Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav mandals' idols. "This written guarantee was first obtained during the pandemic. Things need to change now as there are no height restrictions for Sarvajanik Ganesh idols," Dahibavkar stated.