In 2016, Thane Police had rewarded this Ganesh Mandal, belonging to a residential society, for encouraging communal harmony. Even as the state is gearing up to celebrate Ganesh festival after a two-year pandemic-induced lull, a Ganpati mandal from Bhiwandi’s Kongaon area has decided to give the event a miss this year due to financial constraints.
This decision by the Dream Complex Ganesh Utsav Mandal, which is known for its 17-year-old tradition of communal harmony, has raised a few eyebrows. However, according to the organising committee, the expenditure, expected to be more than double from what it used to be before the pandemic, is beyond its capacity especially with scarce donations. On Sunday, the committee informed the local police about its decision through a letter.
“It has become difficult for local businesses, shop-keepers and residents to donate for the festival this year while struggling to manage finances. Thanks to the pandemic-induced crisis, finance from donors too has been affected. At the same time, the expenditure to manage the festival is sky-rocketing. Realising the constraints, it has been decided to suspend the festivities until it is financially viable again,” reads the letter submitted to Kongaon Police Station in Saravli, Bhiwandi, by the organising committee of the Dream Complex Ganesh Utsav Mandal.
In 2016, Thane Police had rewarded this Ganesh Mandal, belonging to a residential society, for encouraging communal harmony. “The area is dominated by the Muslim community. But that has never limited the fervour with which the Ganpati festival is celebrated here. In fact, this Mandal was started in 2003 by developer Ishad Khan. Since then, this Mandal has a novel identity of a Ganpati festival by Hindu – Muslim residents from the locality. Even the organising committee of the Mandal has several members from the Muslim community,” said Siddharth Kamble, a local resident and adviser from the organising committee.
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Kamble said that the cost of setting up of the pandal, which used to come around Rs 3,000 earlier, has now doubled. “In addition to this, ensuring pooja (worship) of the idol everyday costs Rs 2,000. We also have CCTV surveillance, which too adds to the cost. The overall expense is working out at over Rs 1 lakh, something which is difficult for us to meet right now,” said Kamble, further sharing how Covid-relief activities over the last two years has dried up the mandal’s funds.
Ahmed Patel, president of the committee, said, “Finances is a major issue. The locality mostly has middle-class families who are anyway struggling financially. In today’s time, when spending money for the education of kids and overall survival has become difficult, there are not many hands coming forward for festival donations. If we get donations, we would be more than happy to celebrate the festival, which has been an old tradition for the area and will definitely be missed by all locals.”