Pune: Citizens and mandal representatives begin discussion over 10-day Ganesh festival
The annual ten day Ganesh festival is a mega event in Pune and this year it starts on August 27. The festival is a major tourist attraction for the decoration of pandals and the procession on the first and immersion day. The noise limit during the ganesh procession has been set at 80 decibels by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). The pandals have been restricted to use loudspeakers only during the ten day festival period.
'There was no chaos in the meeting but citizens and environmentalists expressed their opinion on the sound pollution affecting them. We heard them as well. Actually, the meeting was for Ganesh mandals so it was not required for citizens and environmentalists to attend it,' said municipal commissioner Naval Kishore Ram.
He said there was demand from ganesh mandals to make it a restriction free event but there cannot be anything without restriction. 'The PMC would only follow the government directions and court orders. We will cooperate with Ganesh mandals in all possible ways,' said Ram.
He appealed to the Ganesh mandals to clean up the roads after removing the pandals immediately after the festival and create public awareness on cleanliness during the festival.
Ram said that the PMC has decided to make city roads pothole free by August 20, as the Ganesh festival is a mainstay cultural event in the city and should be made successful for everyone.
Meanwhile, BJP legislator Hemant Rasane said that he was making efforts to make the Ganesh Chaturthi free of restrictions and keeping the pandals open for 24 hours. 'The Maharashtra government has already declared Ganesh festival as a state festival and would be relaxing the norms for its celebration,' he said.
Ajay Jadhav is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, Pune. He writes on Infrastructure, Politics, Civic issues, Sustainable Development and related stuff. He is a trekker and a sports enthusiast.
Ajay has written research articles on the Conservancy staff that created a nationwide impact in framing policy to improve the condition of workers handling waste.
Ajay has been consistently writing on politics and infrastructure. He brought to light the lack of basic infrastructure of school and hospital in the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde even as two private helipads were developed by the leader who mostly commutes from Mumbai to Satara in helicopter.
Ajay has been reporting on sustainable development initiatives that protects the environment while ensuring infrastructure development. ... Read More
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