Steep hike in pandal fees irks Ganeshotsav mandals

MNS threatens to launch agitation against MBMC

The steep hike in charges imposed by the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) for erecting pandals during Maharashtra’s biggest festival is likely to snowball into a major confrontation between Ganeshutsav Mandals and the civic administration.

In sharp contrast to the nominal charges levied by their Mumbai and Thane counterparts, the MBMC has decided to impose Re 1 per square feet on a per day basis for the erection of pandals on municipal roads, before awarding No Objection Certificates (NOC) at ward-levels to the Ganeshutsav Mandals. This apart from levying charges on installation of temporary arches and gates that welcome pandal-hoppers.

The step has apparently been taken to reduce the size of massive pandals erected by some of the organisers. However, the decision has triggered a tremendous amount of discontent amongst local Ganeshutsav Mandals. Stung by the unjustified hike, a delegation of Maharashtra Nav-Nirman Sena (MNS) activists, led by city chief Prasad Surve, met municipal commissioner Balaji Khatgaonkar on Friday demanding an immediate roll back. “Such injustice will not be tolerated. We have asked the civic administration to immediately roll back the hike. If they fail to oblige, we will launch a MNS-style agitation,” said Surve.

There are around 2,000 big and small Ganeshutsav Mandals in the twin-city. As per the size of the pandal, each organiser is being forced to shell anywhere between Rs 5000 to Rs 10,000 for securing permissions from the civic administration.