THANE: The state-wide ban on plastic and thermocol seems to have already started reflecting on Ganesh Chaturthi preparations across the city as residents are hunting for environment-friendly and reasonable decor alternatives.From flocking to stores selling Ganpati makhars made using environment-friendly material like paper, cardboard or jute to searching on online websites for such items, citizens are already prepping for their green Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations next month.Eco-friendly makhar vendors have also witnessed a parallel rise in the number of citizens approaching them this season.“I have a team of about 30 deaf and dumb craftsmen and women who make unique Ganesh decors from paper, cardboard or putha, bamboo, cloth, jute and so on. While we have been selling such makhars since the past two decades, we have seen the steepest rise in orders since the thermocol ban . While we have basic designs based on temples and palaces, we will brainstorm to meet the rising demand,” said Kailash Desale, owner of an art shop.Even though most citizens have been flocking to such stores, a small section of Thaneites have taken this move as a motivation to tap into their creative side and create home-made decorations this Ganesh Chaturthi. Prachi Garle, a Pokhran Road 1 resident, said, “This year, I have accumulated a bunch of newspapers to roll them up, line them together and paint them to make a temple shaped makhar for our Ganpati.”Civic officials here have also begun encouraging the various Ganpati mandals across the city to go green this Ganpati.“A few mandals had asked us if we will be giving a special bonus for those pandals that have put up eco-friendly decorations. Usually we have this theme competition every year but no such bonus is given. We have told the organizers that we will try to give a full refund of the deposit if we find any unique decorations made up of eco-friendly products this year. We will table the proposal with the higher authority,” said a civic official at a meeting with a group of community Ganpati mandal organisers recently.(With inputs from Avani Ghangurde)

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