- By Sahelee Rakshit
- Fri, 30 Aug 2024 11:13 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Maharashtra government has been ordered by the Bombay High Court on Friday to notify all "sarvajanik Ganesh mandals" of the mandatory compliance with guidelines prohibiting the use of plaster of Paris in the creation of idols intended for submersion in water.
Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar, sitting on a division bench, declared that all mandals must abide by the directives given by the Central Pollution Control Board in May 2020, which prohibit the use of PoP idols.
The HC additionally instructed that if rights have already been given to build mandals, they must "immediately" include a restriction prohibiting the installation of idols made of PoP.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation brought by Rohit Joshi, an idol maker from Thane, and nine other small-scale, clay artisans, who wanted the 2020 CPCB standards to be strictly followed.
The bench stated it would be forced to impose an order prohibiting the sale and usage of PoP idols after noting that the relevant parties were not adhering to the rules in letter and spirit.
"You may have heard of the saying 'extraordinary situations call for extraordinary order'. These guidelines have been in place since 2020. What can be a more urgent and exigent situation than a degrading environment?" CJ Upadhyaya said.
The bench instructed the state's municipal corporation commissioners to meet with the senior police officer in order to add further requirements to sarvajanik mandals in light of the CPCB's updated recommendations.
A circular from the environment department instructing all district magistrates, zilla parishad CEOs, and municipal council chief officers to "scrupulously implement revised guidelines for idol immersion" was presented to the bench by State Advocate General Birendra Saraf.
The state was also urged by the court to decide on a policy for putting the recommendations into effect.