Devotees carry an idol of Lord Ganesha ahead of ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ festival in Mumbai on August 24, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Maharashtra government to clearly intimate the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and all other civic bodies across the State to inform all the ‘Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandals’ or Ganesh Puja committees to not use Plaster of Paris Ganesh idols and strictly follow the Central Pollution Control Board guidelines on idol immersion that does not allow PoP idols for immersion.
Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking strict implementation of the May 2020 CPCB guidelines, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar said that civic bodies must take undertakings of Ganesh idols from all the Ganesh Puja committees. The PIL was filed by Thane-based Rohit Joshi, nine clay-based and small-scale craftsmen of idols and others.
“We understand that the permissions to various Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandals might have been granted for this year, however, the Mandals seeking permissions for Ganeshotsav shall be clearly intimated that they must mandatorily follow the guidelines. They will have to abide by at least one condition, they will not install PoP idols. In cases where permissions have been granted, they must be told that PoP idols are not installed. Where permission is not granted, let the authorities take an undertaking from the Mandals that they will not use PoP idols,” the Chief Justice pronounced the order.
Despite a complete ban on the use of PoP idols as mandated by CPCB guidelines, the Bench observed that idol manufacturers continue to make such PoP idols and for that, the Bench expressed its displeasure over the lack of implementation of the norms by the municipal bodies.
The Bench called out the BMC for its complete failure in implementing the guidelines and said: “This is because there is no deterrence. The problem is despite all the norms and guidelines in place, the stakeholders knowing fully that challenge to the guidelines have failed up to the Supreme Court, there is some lacuna in process of implementing the guidelines. There is no deterrence, no fine. You need to introduce some penalty or at least put some fine otherwise this will continue. We are not saying to put the manufacturers in prisons but at least impose some fine,” the Bench noted saying that the court would be forced to implement a complete ban on PoP idols starting from this year’s celebration.
“You may have heard of the saying ‘extraordinary situations call for extraordinary order’. These guidelines have been in place from 2020. What can be a more urgent and exigent situation than a degrading environment?” the Bench asked.
Appearing for the civic authorities, advocate Narayan Bubna urged the Bench that they should consider the complete ban of PoP idols starting from this year as it would impact the festival and could mean the court is stopping the festival. “Proper implementation of the CPCB guidelines can be implemented from 2025 onwards,” Mr. Bubna said.
Representing the Maharashtra government, advocate general Birendra Saraf submitted to the Bench that the State government has taken several steps to make people “conscious” about using eco-friendly idols instead of PoP idols. Mr. Saraf also contended that the Environment department across the State through district magistrates, zilla parishads and municipals councils has issued circulars directing officials to scrupulously implement revised guidelines for idol immersion. All these efforts by the State have had a positive impact on people and there are people who have switched from PoP to eco-friendly idols to some extent, Mr. Saraf said.
The court said that State first needs to bring in some statutory framework since the guidelines are not statutory yet and then implement the guidelines and impose fines.
“In our opinion, sufficient measures have not been taken in the sense that non-adherence of guidelines does not entail any deterrence such as imposition of fine. Something must be there so accountability is fixed and manufacturers are made accountable. It is also a matter related to the livelihood of artisans. Take a policy decision, something needs to be done so that it is a deterrent. We expect instructions issued and directions given by the State shall be implemented by all concerned,” the Bench noted.
The court has sought affidavits in reply to the PIL by the State government, municipal corporations, and other respondents in the case and posted the matter for further hearing on October 21.
