Mumbai, June 27: The annual Ganpati festival celebrated for almost eleven days usually falls between July and September, when the monsoon is active.  Therefore, to avoid any inconvenience and to save Ganesh Idols from getting dampened, the mandals association has written to the state government to seek relaxation on the recently introduced plastic ban.

According to a news report in the Hindustan Times, the Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshostsav Samanvay Samiti (BSGSS), the umbrella organisation of Ganesh mandals in the city, wrote to the state environment minister asking them to relax the ban on thermocol, or polystyrene foam, and plastic sheets which are used to cover idols.

The move has come following a statewide plastic ban imposed by the government from April onwards. The grace period provided to dispose the available plastic ended on June 23. Therefore,  fines are being levied for using the banned items including all types of plastic bags, thermocol and cutlery products in various cities of the state. The Ganesh festival this year will commence on September 18.

Fearing that a hefty penalty would be imposed, the association has demanded to seek permanent relaxation on plastic sheets used to cover idols and to allow thermocol decorations to be used at least for this year. Naresh Dahibhavkar, the president of BSGSS, was quoted as saying,“The problem is, this year several Ganesh mandals had already brought thermocol way before the ban was implemented and disposing of, now will not be feasible. Therefore, there should be a relaxation on thermocol this year.”

Raising concerns over the lack of plastic substitutes to cover the idols,  Dahibhavkar stated that sculptors wrap the idols with plastic sheets as its readily available, cheap and helps protect it from getting wet. He contends that apart from plastic, no other material can be used and the clay idols which are environment-friendly can easily get damaged due to rains. To avoid any loss to sculptors,  the association members asked for a permanent relaxation should be considered. He added that the plastic sheets used by sculptors are usually reused and not thrown away.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 27, 2018 02:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).