Few days to Ganesh festival, hundreds of mandals still await BMC nod

Fate of at least 400-500 Ganesh mandals is hanging in balance as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has still not issued them permission to erect their pandals. Following last year's High Court ruling, the civic body is strictly adhering to the policy guidelines it prepared in July last year. Suresh Sarnobat, secretary of the Akhil Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mahasangh, said, "We are expecting that the civic body will come up with some fresh guidelines next week. Nearly 400-500 mandals are awaiting its nod. The cases are pending at the ward office level. They need to expedite the cases, as we don't have much time. These mandals need time for decoration and also to bring idols. If they start the work before the permission comes and then don't get the nod, they will face losses. We have asked them to be patient and wait until next week," said Sarnobat, lamenting the civic body's lackadaisical approach.

"We had expected that the BMC's one window system for all permissions will be helpful, but it is not. They are taking as much time as manual issuance," Sarnobat said. A senior civic official, however, said there was nothing to hide. "The revenue department and police stations' staffers take rounds and check every mandal. They have to prepare a report. Permissions cannot be given blatantly. At the end, we have to face the wrath of the high court. So, all permissions have to bee first scrutinised," he said.

Deputy municipal commissioner Anand Wagralkar, who is coordinating with the Ganesh mandals' committee, said, "Each mandal is expected to submit all relevant documents and information needed in the form, including maps and location sketches. These are verified by the traffic department and police by personal site visits. Our junior engineers ensure that they call the mandal office bearers and make them fill all empty columns, so that their forms are not rejected. We are working proactively to help mandals. But all this takes at least two-three days, that is if everything is in order and information is in place. But if the forms are incomplete and maps and sketches of the location are not submitted, we have to ask them to submit those."

Additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Deshmukh said the civic body will not compromise on policy matters and there was no scope of changing the policy as it was formulated last year after a high court order. "The guidelines were also approved by the HC. So, if pandals are on roads and footpaths, causing obstruction to pedestrian and vehicular movement, they will not get permission. If the application is approved by the traffic department and the local police station, then we will issue the permission, provided all other guidelines are complied with," he said.

He added that permissions for Ganesh murtikars and mandals were being processed in 24 wards as per approved policy. Many police stations and traffic department have deputed staffers to grant NOCs through one-window system. Majority of the civic administrative wards have already conducted coordination meetings with police, traffic department, Ganesh mandals, BEST and Reliance staffers, ward level HODs and so on. Instructions have already been passed on to wards to not stop permissions for non-payment of digging costs," Deshmukh said.