Bombay High Court bans PoP idols sparking concerns among local mandals

One week ahead of the biggest festival celebrated in the city of Mumbai when the idol makers are almost done giving the finishing touch to the Ganpati idols and all Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandals are ready to welcome Ganpati in their pandals, the high court's order to ban Plaster of Paris (PoP) has evoked concerns among the local mandals. The timing for such an order is being seen as the most troublesome for them as they argue that the preparations are already in place and such an order keeps expenses, artisans and many local businesses on stake.

The Bombay High Court directed the Maharashtra government on August 30 to inform the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), along with all other civic bodies spanning the state to intimate the ‘Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandals’ to ensure not use of Plaster of Paris for  Ganesh idols. It also stated that the pandals strictly follow the Central Pollution Control Board guidelines on the immersion of idols as the body does not allow PoP idols for immersion.

According to the pandals, however, it is easier said than done. Ganesh Mathur, General Secretary of the ‘Khetwadi Cha Ganraj’ Mandal, which was established in 1959 in Grant Road  says, "We won't be able to do anything now. The work starts as early as April and the idol is already made with the PoP now. Any change is only possible from the next year if the order is in place." Highlighting that his pandal is following the theme of 'Ram Mandir' this time, Mathur says that the members had thought of opting for an eco-friendly idol but it is not possible for idols of good heights. "It rains during this season. Hence, it is difficult to make a big idol from any eco-friendly material because it melts. There is always a problem with finishing work on the idols if it is not a PoP idol," he adds.

It seems obvious that the pandals continued with the PoP idols based on the statement made by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde last year that allowed the use of PoP idols. Bob, who handles a local pandal, 'Girgaon Cha Ganraj', says, "95% of the pandals have PoP idols". "Even this year, everyone is making idols of PoP. Nothing is possible right now. If the order would have come before, we could have still managed something," he says, adding that such order comes every year and is also scrapped.

In the suburbs, the Malad-based 'TheShyam Nirmal Mitra Mandal' is yet another one almost ready with the Ganesha idol made with almost 60% PoP. A worker, Dhrummill Desai, speaking on behalf of the 26-year-old pandal, which has followed a Chess-themed pandal, asks, "The order came all of a sudden. Why do the court and the governing bodies wake up at the zero hour?", mentioning that the idols can not be scrapped at this moment, he says, "If the court or the authorities need to ban PoP, they need to provide us with alternatives about the immersion and inform the mandals two years in advance. We need to understand that even the judiciary can be wrong given the time of this order."

Involvement of various people at stake 

Criticising the timing of the order and emphasising how it can trouble the livelihood of many, Desai says that local businesses get down to zero on such a sudden imposed ban. "It is a big and a very popular festival in Mumbai. Local traders and small sellers, hawkers, all make money in these ten days. So, such a ban must be done after brainstorming these problems and how much their lives would be impacted," he says adding, "Poor people do not sleep these ten days aiming to make money in this city that never sleeps."

Even though 'Girgaon Cha Raja Ganesh Mandal' has been making eco-friendly Ganpati idols for the last 97 years, the secretary of the pandal, Ganesh Lingayat is of the view that such a ban is not going to be effective. "Such orders have been coming in for the last five years, and dominant influences will force the order to be abrogated, as they do every year," he says. On the other hand, Lingayat highlights that such a ban is not ideal for the artists even if the order comes 60 days in advance of the festival. "If an artist makes only two eco-friendly in 50 days, ideally, they are most likely to lose the money that would, otherwise, make for PoP idols for such duration," he says. 

Talking about the cost incurred, Lingayat says that not all pandals can afford the cost of having eco-friendly idols as they are relatively expensive. "It takes around 2-2.5 lakh for a 20-feet idol and such an eco-friendly idol would cost even more," he says. On the same note, Shri. Amit D Pai, the Chairman and Spokesperson of GSB Seva Mandal, Sion, also gives a reference, "If a  PoP idol costs somewhere around Rs. 500, an eco-friendly idol of the same size and design costs about Rs. 900-1000 which makes citizens skeptical for opting it." However, Pai has welcomed the move as he says, "It is disheartening to see the local authorities demolishing the collected PoP idols with bulldozers as the PoP idols don't easily dissolve in water. It causes severe damage to marine life with the key ingredient of PoP (Gypsum) and harmful chemical colours."

While small pandals might deal with the difficulties due to expenses, the world-famous 'Lalbaug Cha Raja' is also made of PoP and Lingayat says that a lot of emotions are attached to it and the appearance plays a great role. "If the Lalbaugh Ke Raja would look different, the feeling of devotees will most likely be hurt," he adds.

Instead, Ganesh Lingayat opines that alternatives should be worked upon instead. "The major reason for banning the PoP idols is the problems that are created by the immersion of these idols. We should talk about the proper way of disposal and the authorities should focus more on the alternatives," he says. Lingayat, however, says that a lot of pandals have taken on themselves to bring eco-friendly idols and sustainable ways for immersion. 

One such pandal in Girgaun is Khudal Deshkar Chawl which takes the idol to the Girgaun Chowpatty on the last day, lets the feet of Ganpati touch the water, and gets back to keep it throughout the year. Another in this locality is 'Sai Ganesh Mitra Manada, Bappa Maza Girgaoncha' which opted for red soil 5 years ago, in a unique approach. They resorted to this alternative after seeing their PoP idol floating in the water even after immersion and did not feel good. Nilesh Jare from the pandal says, "Even Shadu mati (white clay) is not immersed as better as the red soil. However, we have to keep the idols small," he says adding that this year, the pandal is making a 5-feet idol as compared to the 2-2.5 feet every year and they can never adorn the idol with garland as it might get broken with the weightage, highlighting the problems.

Regardless, Jare says that even the work for eco-friendly idols starts 6 months in advance and no artists or pandals can do much if the orders come a week before the Ganpati celebrations.