2016 marks the centenary year of Bal Gangadhar ‘Lokmanya’ Tilak’s iconic proclamation, “Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it.” Tilak was largely responsible for bringing the Ganesh Chathurthi festival back to its original public nature, and this year, the sculptors who create the Ganesh idols for the city want to mark the anniversary with special celebrations.
Suresh Sarnobath, chief executive of the Maharasthra Ganesotsav Mahasangh (MGM), said, “The Maharashtra government has allocated a sum of Rs. 5 crore to celebrate and propagate Tilak’s ideology. These funds should be spent for showcasing his life and organising competitions amongst Ganesh Mandals across the city and state.”
The sculptors’ collective has other causes for celebration. This year, they will get single-window clearance for their work from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Mr. Sarnobath said, “We held a meeting with civic officials today to push for a uniform process, preferably online, whereby all the sculptors are registered with the BMC and do not need to annually seek multiple permissions to ply their trade from the BMC, traffic department and other state authorities. We also discussed regulatory issues about the rules for pandals during the festival season.”
Among other issues that need to be resolved, one is the height of the idols. Mr. Sarnobath said that the BMC had been requesting the organisers of pandals to limit the height of the idols to 18 feet. “We pointed out that the BMC may very well charge a higher deposit for the erection of pandals, but the need to accommodate the increased height of Ganesh idols needs to be factored in and permitted.”
As to the traffic congestion caused by pandals occupying public roads, he said, “We have proposed to the BMC that 60 per cent of the road is left for traffic, while the pandal occupies 40 per cent of the space.”
According to a spokesperson for the Mahasangh, the BMC spends at least Rs. 5 crore annually on the Ganesh festival, mainly for the 84 legal immersion spots across the city.
Mr. Sarnobath said that the additional municipal commissioner, Sanjay Deshmukh, and deputy municipal commissioner, Anand Wagaralkar, met with the representatives of the artists and assured them on the issue. This correspondent’s attempts to contact Mr. Deshmukh and Mr. Wagaralkar via telephone calls and SMS were unsuccessful.
Civic body spends
Rs. 5 crore annually on the festival,
mainly for the 84 legal immersion spots
