MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday informed the Bombay High Court that it will consider Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to use only eco-friendly clay Ganesha idols at a meeting convened by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on July 31 Published on: Jul 30, 2026, 08:51:37 IST By Karuna Nidhi Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday informed the Bombay High Court that it will consider Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to use only eco-friendly clay Ganesha idols at a meeting convened by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on July 31.
Advocate general Milind Sathe told the court that the meeting has been specially scheduled to deliberate on the Prime Minister’s appeal, made during his Mann ki Baat programme on July 26.
The state said its decision would be placed before the high court after the meeting.
A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Kamal Khata was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Thane resident Rohit Joshi, seeking implementation of the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) guidelines prohibiting the manufacture and immersion of Plaster-of-Paris (PoP) Ganesha idols.
The petition highlights concerns over pollution caused to rivers, lakes and other natural water bodies during idol immersion.
The hearing also focused on the state’s progress in complying with the high court’s earlier directions on regulating PoP idol immersion and developing a scientific recycling mechanism.
Last year, in July 2025, the Bombay High Court directed that all Ganesh idols up to six feet in height, including those made of PoP, be immersed only in artificial ponds created by municipal corporations and other local bodies across Maharashtra.
The order followed the state’s submission that immersion of idols up to five feet had already been made mandatory in artificial ponds.
In compliance with the high court’s directions to constitute an expert committee and recommend scientific methods for recycling PoP idols, the state on Wednesday placed before the court a proposed two-step recycling process aimed at making the material suitable for reuse.
According to the expert committee’s report submitted to the court, PoP idols should first be immersed in artificial immersion tanks for a minimum of three weeks.
This would allow the paint to dissolve, soften the idols and partially disintegrate the PoP, reducing the energy required for the subsequent grinding and calcination process.
The report further recommended that, after the three-week period, urban local bodies (ULBs) should collect the idols from the artificial ponds and transport them to dedicated processing units for recycling, where the recovered PoP material can be processed for reuse.
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