Ganpati Puja 2022: Bhiwandi’s mandal gives festivity a miss, cites price rise

The ‘Dream Complex Ganesh Utsav Mandal’ in Kongaon, in a letter to the police, said it was not celebrating the festival due to the difficulty in getting donations and soaring costs of essential items.

Ganpati puja festival in Maharashtra is one of the biggest festival in India and was marred since 2019 due to coronavirus-induced restrictions. However, this year, with no restrictions in place, people in Maharashtra can be seen decorating the streets and setting up the stage like never before.

ALSO READ: Western Railways to run Ganpati Special trains between these cities | Full list

Even, the Eknath Shinde government last month announced that Ganpati festivities in the state would be held like pre-COVID times. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials on Saturday said the civic body had received 3,500 applications for erection of public pandals for Ganpati, a sizable increase from the 2,400 permission given last year.

The 10-day festival will kick off on 31 August and conclude on 9 September.

Considering the enthusiasm among the masses to welcome their beloved Lord Ganesha, the state administration had beef-up the security, especially in Mumbai metropolitan region, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and Konkan.

While the height restriction for idols has been removed, BMC officials said households have been requested to cap it at two feet.

Incidentally, the BMC this year has also allowed idols made from Plaster of Paris (PoP), usually restricted for being harmful to the environment, as a special case. The lack of restrictions has already brought a buzz in areas like Fort, Lalbaug, Andheri, Chembur, Kurla, where extensive lighting and decorations are being installed at pandals.

With PTI inputs

First article