Mumbai: In a point of order raised in the Standing Committee meeting on Tuesday, corporators claimed that glitches in the online registration system on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) website prevented Ganpati mandals from receiving permissions. The committee chairman asked the administration to pay heed to the demands and act immediately on it.
Yashwant Jadhav, standing committee chairman, said not giving permission was harassment of mandals. “We all know court guidelines should be followed by everyone and mandals are also aware of it. The action that is being taken should be stopped. Even the potholes coming in the way during visarjan should be immediately filled to ensure a smooth route,” he said. Rakhi Jadhav, group leader, Nationalist Congress Party, had raised the point of order saying the 290 Ganesh mandals that have been denied permissions should be given offline permissions to ensure smooth conduct of festivities. “There are mandals in operation for 60-70 years and they haven’t received permissions. This can only mean there is a problem with the BMC website. They should be given offline permissions on humanitarian grounds and the BMC will be responsible if they are being wronged,” said Jadhav.
According to civic data, BMC has granted permission to 2290 mandals, while applications of around 150 mandals are still in process. Rais Shaikh, corporator and group leader of the Samajwadi Party, said the server hardly worked and many people didn’t know how to apply online. “I’m sure they are following all the guidelines. Let us do a physical survey with a delegation and check it ourselves but not giving them permission altogether is not fair,” he added.
