After Bombay HC bans plaster of Paris Ganesha idols, Mumbai's mandals react to the move
With Ganesh Chaturthi almost here, some of Mumbai's sarvajanik Ganesh mandals share if the ban on theuse of plaster of Paris Ganpati idols has impacted them
After the Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Maharashtra government to inform all sarvajanik Ganesh mandals to mandatorily follow guidelines imposing ban on the use of plaster of Paris (POP) idols, the authorities from the Mumbai’s biggest Ganesh mandals react to the move.
Ganesh Mathur, joint secretary, Khetwadi cha Ganraj, Grant Road, was unaware of the move. He tells us, “We have been doing this (organising the Ganpati pandal) for the last 66 years. Our 15-feet Ganpati idol kept in the mandal is made by sculptor Santosh Kamble, who makes for Lalbaugcha Raja mandal too. It is made of POP and since the work starts on them from May-end, there is not much that we can do now. I believe POP shouldn’t be banned, as the clay ones don’t last during visarjan, since it rains during that time. But yes, it isn’t good for the environment. We’ll think of making a change next year.”
But for other Ganesh mandals in the city, the move doesn’t make much of a difference. Amit Pai, chairman of GSB Seva Mandal, Matunga, says, “This is the 70th year for us. We have always done pure clay (shadu mati) idols at GSB and no other materials are used. So, we aren’t much affected by this move. In fact, our mission is to embark on a goal of carbon net-zero to do our bit for the environment. We use minimal plastic, recyclable materials and banana leaves to serve food, etc.”
What is the move by Bombay HC?
A division bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar said that all mandals have to follow guidelines issued in May 2020 by the Central Pollution Control Board, imposing a ban on POP idols. “You may have heard of the saying ‘extraordinary situations call for extraordinary order’. These guidelines have been in place since 2020. What can be a more urgent and exigent situation than a degrading environment?”, said Chief Justice Upadhyaya.