While Ganeshotsav mandals in the city have already begun to bring Ganesh idols to their pandals, but only 1,005 of the 2,620 mandals that applied for permissions online have got permission to build pandals.
According to the Hindustan Times, 189 applications were rejected owing to lack of documents, the remaining applications are still being processed. The report further adds that this year the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) system was marred by technical glitches, which even forced the deadline for application to be extended to August 24 from August 19. The civic body had started accepting applications or the 10-day festival from June.
After a Ganesh mandal applies for online application, the civic body's ward office forwards the application to various departments including police, traffic and fire brigade. Following no-objection certificates (NOCs) from all departments concerned, the ward office issues permission to the mandals to set up pandals.
Naresh Dahibhavkar, president, Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti, an umbrella body of Ganesh mandals in the city, told the Hindustan Times, “There were technical issues in issuing permissions initially, which have been resolved now. Getting a no-objection certificate from the police department takes most time, as they need to conduct site inspection.”
The BMC has now stated that after demands for more time from Ganesh mandals, the mayor wrote to the administration to extend the deadline to apply for permissions.
