Mumbai: BMC waives all charges for Ganpati mandals or idol makers

Mumbai: With the state government announcing lifting of all restrictions for the upcoming Ganeshotsav, the BMC has issued a circular, waiving all charges for Ganpati mandals. The civic body will also return any charges, if collected from any mandal this year.

It has also waived charges levied on idols makers’ pandals, further clarifying that the limitation of height of idols have also been lifted, though it is advisable to limit the height of household Ganpatis to two feet.

For the past two years, during the pandemic, restrictions had been imposed on the height of idols, the number of volunteers and devotees visiting pandals. As a result, the 10-day festival couldn’t be celebrated as enthusiastically as earlier. With the coronavirus threat abating, the circular was issued to bring back gusto among devotees.

The festival will commence on August 31, and the BMC has started giving permissions to mandals to erect pandals. From July 4, the civic body started a one-window system for permissions to mandals, with Rs 100 charge as allowance fee. But with the new state government removing all restrictions, the clarification circular was issued on July 23 (Saturday).

If any mandal has paid the permission fee of Rs 100, it will be refunded by the BMC, which has also waived the fee of Rs 200-250 for permission to display advertisements of mandals.