Bhiwandi Ganpati mandal gives festivity a miss due to price rise, lack of donations

A Ganpati mandal (group organising public festival) in Bhiwandi in Maharashtra's Thane district on Sunday said it would not be participating in one of the state's most patronised festivals due to price rise and dearth of donations this year.

In a letter to the police, the 'Dream Complex Ganesh Utsav Mandal' in Kongaon said it was not celebrating the festival due to the difficulty in getting donations and soaring costs of essential items.

The 10-day festival will kick off on August 31 and it is the first time since 2019 that it will be celebrated without coronavirus-induced restrictions.

The festivities were muted statewide in 2020 and 2021 due to pandemic norms like cap on visitor numbers, enforcing of COVID-appropriate behaviour, and compulsory scaling down of idols and pandals (arenas).