Overview
- The High Court heard final arguments this week in a public interest petition seeking a blanket ban on immersing Plaster of Paris (PoP) Ganesha idols in natural water bodies and repeatedly questioned the state’s 2025 policy that permits large PoP idols to be immersed under conditions.
- The state told the court it wants the 2025 relaxation to remain while pilot projects for collecting and recycling PoP run and while artificial ponds handle idols up to six feet, saying local bodies have made those facilities available.
- The CPCB has told the court its 2020 guidelines govern only immersion and are advisory rather than a statutory ban, a position that prompted judges to ask who has the legal power to control immersion-related pollution if the CPCB lacks binding authority.
- Petitioners and the bench stressed scientific concerns that PoP and the paints used on idols do not readily dissolve and can pollute rivers, lakes and seas, and the judges urged manufacturers to adopt non-polluting materials.
- Manufacturers and artisan groups sought more time to shift away from PoP, but the court pushed back, noting earlier deadlines and large numbers of big PoP idols immersed last year and leaving further hearings, including on implementation, for later this month.