The BMC has received 2,619 applications from Ganesh mandals this year to put up pandals for the coming Ganesh festival of which the civic body has already approved 67 per cent, or 1,770 pandals. However the number of applications received in 2022, the first year post-lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, is less than that of 2019, according to figures from the civic body.
Applications from Ganesh mandals went up by 13 per cent this year in comparison to 2020 — the first year of the pandemic, and by 4 per cent against 2021, the second year of the pandemic. Last year, BMC received 2,507 applications of which 2,048 were approved, and in 2020, it received 2,315 applications of which 1,912 were approved. In 2019, before the lockdown, BMC received 3,064 applications of which 2,615 were approved.
Naresh Dahibawkar, president of Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti (BSGSS), said, “Ganesh festival will be celebrated on a larger scale this year, as it is the first post-pandemic year. In 2020 and 2021, there were a lot of restrictions.”
However, the number of applications is still lesser than that of 2019 as many mandals have reduced the scale of their celebrations due to lack of funds and donations. Dahibawkar said. “Small mandals have seen contributions from local community members dwindle. So they reduced the celebrations from 10 days to 1.5 days. In such cases, they decide against putting up pandals for 1.5 days and celebrate it locally within housing society compounds,” he said.