22-foot Ganesh idol falls at Chinchpokli, hearts break

Did political hoardings or potholes on the road cause a 22-ft tall Ganpati idol to fall and break into pieces on Sane Guruji Marg at Chinchpokli on Sunday?

While the cause of the fall is yet to be known, the incident has brought back to fore the issue of height restriction on Ganpati idols.

On Sunday, as devotees were dancing and chanting “Ganpati Bappa Morya, Pudchaya Varshi Lavkar Ya”, the 22-ft idol of Tejukaya Ganesh Mandal wobbled and collapsed. Two people, who were injured in the incident, were admitted to KEM Hospital.
Some claim that a local politician’s 20-ft hoarding shaped like a gate across the road near Chinchpokli bridge obstructed the idol and it fell.

Later when the Ganesh Galli Ganpati idol, too, reportedly got stuck at the same hoarding, local activists decided to raise its height. But, when the Narepark Ganesh Mandal idol, which was 24-ft tall, could not pass under the hoarding, they decided to bring it down. It took them more than four hours to remove the hoarding, which affected immersion processions passing through Lalbaug.

The Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samiti, the umbrella body of all mandals in the state, has decided to call for a conclave for putting a cap on the height of idols and encouraging eco-friendly celebrations.

There are 65,000 sarvajanik mandals across the state, including 12,000 in Mumbai.

“For years we have been appealing to Ganpati mandals on restricting the height of idols,” said Narendra Dahibaonkar, president of the samiti. “We do not know why the idol collapsed. It appears that a hoarding obstructed it. But, then the road is also ridden with potholes,” he added.

Rajan Zhad, who sculpted the idol for Tejukaya Ganesh Mandal, is heartbroken. “The incident will haunt me for the rest of my life. As the creator it is very painful so see the idol break just before the immersion.”

Other idol-makers support Zhad.

Kedar Dahibaokar, a Ganpati idol-maker from Mumbai Central, said: “It is not the idol-maker’s mistake. He has been making the idols for the mandal for the several years. Looking the bad condition of roads, it is preferable to restrict the height of idols to 12-15 ft.”

Idol-maker from Tardeo, Nitin Gorde said: “It is difficult to ferry tall Ganpati idols on these bad roads. Moreover, some of the mandals insist on increasing the height of their idols every
passing year, which is not right.”