Vadodara: It was only recently that Ganpati festival organisers as well as idol makers in the city made representations to the city police regarding the size of the Ganesha idols being installed in the city. But there are others who will not have to bother about such regulations in the future.Winds of change have slowly started blowing amongst Ganpati pandals in the city and they have started making fibre plastic that lasts for years and are not immersed. Two major Ganpati pandals in the city have shifted to the technology and will not immerse even their small idols in ponds.One of the most popular pandals in the city Manjalpur Ka Raja organised by the Yuva Shakti Charitable Trust has installed an 18-feet high Ganpati idol made from fibre plastic. The idol has been made locally and was brought to the pandal about a week back.Founder of the trust Setu Patel said that they were disturbed by the way they saw only partly dissolved idols surface when Sursagar was emptied for renovation. “We did not want our idol to be in a similar situation and decided to use a fibre plastic idol. We were also aware of similar idols being made in Pune as it faces a situation similar to Vadodara when it comes to immersions,” said Patel.In the old city, the Kantareshwar Mahadev Yuvak Mandal in Bajwada got its idol made by an artisan in Mumbai. The idol was brought to the city recently and will be installed near the Kantareshwar Mahadev temple. President of the mandal Mehul Gandhi said that the idol will now remain same for several years, but will be decked up differently every year.“The idol will be sent to Mumbai again in December, it will be decked up again and sent for the next Ganpati festival,” said Gandhi. The decoration around the idol and other items will also be changed every year. At the other end, Manjalpur Ka Raja idol will be kept at a safe location till the next festival.While the larger mandals may have started using eco-friendly idols only this year, the Bal Hanuman Yuvak Mandal in Salatwada has been doing so since about a decade. The group already has three reusable idols that they use at the pandal. “We use different concepts to decorate the pandal,” said one of the organisers Manish Indulkar.Pandals who reuse their large idols have small Ganpati idols made of clay that is immersed. The mandals are also exploring the possibility of immersing the idols in tanks near the pandals itself. The fibre plastic idols will be taken for a procession in the city called ‘Nagaryatra’.

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