Bombay HC Asks Ganesh Mandals To Produce Scientific Proof That PoP Does Not Harm Water Bodies

Mumbai, August 5, 2026: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked Ganesh idol manufacturers to demonstrate, with scientific material, that plaster of Paris (PoP) is not harmful to natural water bodies, while clarifying that the court was only examining environmental concerns and not the religious practice of idol immersion.

A bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and Kamal Khata was hearing a batch of petitions relating to the implementation of the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) 2020 guidelines, which prohibit the immersion of PoP idols in natural water bodies.

Petitions have also been filed by PoP idol manufacturers and Ganpati mandals opposing the petition and the CPCB guidelines, stating that they are only advisory and not mandatory.

Court Seeks Scientific Evidence

"We have not banned manufacturing. All we are saying is don't immerse PoP idols in natural water bodies. This will not hurt any religious sentiments," the bench observed. It further told the petitioners, "Prove it to us that PoP is good for nature."

Appearing for Ganesh mandals, Akhil Sarvajanik Utsav Samiti, Maharashtra, advocate Uday Warunjikar argued that there was no scientific study establishing that PoP itself was harmful to the environment.

He submitted that while several court decisions since 2008 had referred to PoP as a pollutant, they were based on earlier guidelines and not on any conclusive scientific study.

Religious Practice Not Under Review

He also relied on the Supreme Court's Ayodhya judgment to argue that idol immersion was an essential religious practice and welcomed the court's clarification that it would not examine the religious aspect of the festival.

"We were worried that the court was going to touch on the religious aspect. We are grateful the court clarified that it is only concerned with the environmental impact of use of PoP," Warunjikar said.

He questioned whether the CPCB, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board or the Centre had conducted any scientific study proving that PoP is an environmental pollutant.

Advocate Prasanna Kutti, appearing for idol makers from Dhule, argued that clay (sadu) idols could also contain harmful minerals and claimed they could be more harmful than PoP. He relied on a study published in an international journal.

Justice Khata, however, questioned whether there was any scientific study supporting the contention, observing, "Just because some international journal has published something, we cannot simply accept it."

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Hearing To Continue

On Tuesday, the Maharashtra government informed the court that it was not feasible to shift entirely to eco-friendly clay idols for this year's Ganesh festival as most idols had already been made. The hearing will continue on Thursday.

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