Opposing the Bombay High Courts ban on the use of Plaster of Paris (PoP) for making Ganesh idols,Shiv Sena leaders would soon meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan with grievances of idol makers. Party Executive President Uddhav Thackeray today convened a meeting of idol makers at Sena Bhavan to discuss their problems in backdrop of the ban on environment ground. The ban was imposed by the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay HC on Tuesday on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Narendra Dabholkar,president of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS),in 2005. The court had ordered that Ganesh idols be made by using soil and natural colours and warned that criminal cases would be registered if anyone violates the ban. We will meet the Chief Minister and ask him if his Government has any policy on celebrating the Ganesh festival, the Sena leader said while addressing the meeting. Maintaining that the ban hurts the Hindu sentiments,Uddhav said MANS,which campaigns against superstitions,had no business to interfere in Hindu festivals. The festival is being celebrated for years and so far there had been no complaint about its environment hazards,he said. However,last year the Sena-ruled BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) initiated a campaign for eco- friendly Ganesh idols to reduce environment impact. The BMC makes arrangement for artificial ponds every year for immersion of idols to avoid sea,river or lake pollution. Over three lakh households and 25,000 mandals celebrate Ganesh festival. About 45,000 people in the state depend on the festival for their livelihood.
