Organisers say that they erect pandals on roads due to lack of open spaces in the city.
Ganesh mandals are unhappy with the new pandal policy pertaining to using 25 per cent of the roads for erecting pandals in the city. According to the organisers Ganesh Chaturthi is an important festival of Maharashtra which attracts large number of crowds and celebrations are held peacefully and no law and order problem occurs. The new order came into force after residents of Thane had complained about the pandals encroaching 80 per cent of the roads thereby creating inconvenience to pedestrians and obstructing traffic. The guidelines also state that the pandals should not obstruct traffic and they should not be erected near school, hospital and station.
The 10-day Ganesh festival, beginning on September 17 this year, is perhaps Mumbai’s most defining cultural event that has been growing bigger in scale every year. There are close to 10,000 Ganesh festival organisers in the city, many enjoying active support and sponsorship from parties across the political spectrum.
Ramesh Deshpande, a Ganesh festival organiser from Kandivali said, “How can authorities frame new guidelines every year? We always follow rules and the Ganesh festival is being celebrated peacefully everywhere. We will go ahead with the celebrations as usual.”
Naresh Surve, a Borivali resident said, “Since Mumbai is a concrete jungle there is lack of open spaces in the city. Therefore we don’t have any option but to erect the pandals on roads. Even housing societies deny permission to us for erecting pandals inside its premises. Nobody can disrupt Ganesh festival celebrations as it will hurt the religious sentiments of people.”
Rupesh Joshi, a ganesh mandal organiser from Malad said, “No one deliberately puts pandals on the road – they do it because they have no choice in this city. We need to make this a win-win situation for all, but the festival organisers should not be affected in any way. Noise pollution and traffic problems occur whenever any festival is celebrated but that doesn’t mean we stop all celebrations.”
Festival organisers regularly come under fire for violating sound pollution limits for public events, but the spotlight has shifted to a new controversy this year: pandals erected intrusively on public roads. In 2014, close to 1,200 marquees were put up on Mumbai’s roads and pavements, including spaces near bus stops, railway stations and even hospitals.
Dayanand Nene, president of the Alert Citizens Forum of India, said, “We are not against any festival, but are against the way they are celebrated. More than 100 pandals encroach roads leading to traffic in the area.”
“These mandals are patronised by politicians who harass common man under the garb of keeping the tradition intact. In light of the high court’s observation, stringent action should be taken against pandals encroaching more than 25 per cent of the roads or by levying a deterrent fine of Rs1 lakh,” added Nene.
