Mumbai Ganesh mandals want plastic ban relaxed to use thermocol and sheets

Three days after Maharashtra government imposed a ban on various types of plastic products in the state, the Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshostsav Samanvay Samiti (BSGSS), the umbrella organisation of Ganesh mandals in the city, wrote to the state environment minister asking him to relax the ban on thermocol, or polystyrene foam, and plastic sheets used to cover idols. 

State environment minister Ramdas Kadam said that he has asked these organisations to approach the empowered committee. 

Naresh Dahibavkar, president of BSGSS, said,“The problem is this year many bigger mandals have already brought thermocol way before the ban was implemented, and disposing of it now is not feasible. Therefore, there should be a relaxation on thermocol this year.” 

Mandals use thermocol as it is cheap and light, however, it can pollute the environments by ending up as flotsam on water bodies, clogging rivers and lakes, and harming aquatic life.

“We also want a permanent relaxation on the plastic used to cover the idols made of shadu clay because idol makers do not dispose of plastic but reuse it every year,” Dahibavkar said. 

Sculptors, who use shadu clay, expressed concern over the ban saying that they cannot cover the idols with butter paper or any other material.