Mumbai: In the wake of the Bombay High Court’s directions on environment-friendly festival celebrations, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has upgraded its ‘EcoBappa’ mobile application, which provides a list of vendors across the state from where devotees can purchase eco-friendly Ganesh idols and ornaments.
The upgraded app will be available in the next 24 hours, and users can download it from both Android and IOS. The MPCB had first launched the app in 2024; however, it failed to get traction.
218 Vendors Across Maharashtra Registered
This year, the app has 218 vendors registered across Maharashtra, providing Ganpati idols made out of clay. The maximum vendors are located in Mumbai, followed by the districts of Thane, Pune, Sindhudurg and Nagpur.
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App Lists Artificial Ponds for Ganpati Immersion
The ’EcoBappa’ app also provides a list of all locations where artificial ponds are installed by the civic body for Ganpati immersion. “The users can find the nearest vendors selling eco-friendly Ganesh idols and eco-friendly ornaments. It will also have images. The updated list of the artificial ponds will also be uploaded once received by the municipal corporation,” officials from MPCB said.
MPCB Aims for Greater Public Use in 2025
“The MPCB first launched the app last year, created at a cost of Rs 7 lakh; however, it was not publicised much. The vendors initially resisted coming on the board as registered vendors. Gradually, the number of vendors providing eco-friendly Ganpati idols and ornaments/decorative items started registering themselves. Year on year, we expect the EcoBappa app to get more traction from the devotees and promote environment-friendly festival celebrations,” officials said.
BMC Promotes Eco-Friendly Ganeshotsav
Meanwhile, this year, the BMC has also taken several steps to promote environment-friendly Ganesh festival celebrations. The civic body has distributed around 1000 tonnes of clay to artisans making Ganpati idols and natural colours were also distributed. Last year, the distribution of clay was only around 600 tonnes.
The BMC will also install more than 250 artificial ponds for Ganpati visarjan this year. Last year, the total number of artificial ponds installed in Mumbai were 204. Bombay HC has mandated the immersion of Plaster of Paris (POP) below six feet in artificial ponds.
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While, taller POP idols are allowed to be immersed in the natural water bodies (sea, rivers, lake), the authorities have to ensure that the remanants are retrieved within 24 hours and transport for scientific disposal. The 10-day Ganeshotsav begins from Wednesday, August 27.
