Ahead of the Ganesh festival, the Dharwad district administration has cracked the whip on manufacturers and sellers of Ganesh idols made of PoP (Plaster of Paris) with a large number of PoP idols being seized at Garag village in Dharwad taluk earlier this week.

Deputy Commissioner Divya Prabhu G.R.J., who spoke to presspersons after verifying the seized lot of PoP idols at Kalabhavan Ground in Dharwad, said that she has directed the officials to register a criminal case against those who had illegally stored the banned PoP idols.

The Deputy Commissioner said that as check-posts are being set up on the inter-district borders and in the city limits, some people have begun procuring PoP idols in advance and storing them in mofussil areas and on the outskirts of the city. So, authorities have been directed to look out for such storage facilities and seize the idols, she said.

She said that the seizure of 184 PoP idols was made at Garag village following a tip-off by the general public. A task force comprising officials of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, Revenue Department, Gram Panchayat and Police was constituted to carry out the raid and seize the idols, she said.

During the raid, the task force members found that Vinayak Kalappa Pattar of Garag village had procured and stored the 184 PoP idols of various sizes and work on giving the final touch and painting was under way. The idols were stored at two locations, one in Shivoji Extension and the other at Sangolli Rayanna Extension. The accused is a wholesale and retail seller of idols.

The Deputy Commissioner said that during enquiry, the accused revealed that all the idols were procured from Kolhapur in Maharashtra and the Superintendent of Police has been asked to take up investigation and take the requisite action.

The seized PoP idols have now been stored at Kalabhavan in Dharwad and the plan is to dispose them of as per rules.

Senior officer of KSPCB Jagadish I.H., Panchayat Development Officer Shashidhar Gandhad, municipal officer Gangadhar Manakattimath, Garag Sub-Inspector of Police Sidrama Unnad and others were present.

Appeal

Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner has appealed to the general public and Ganesh mandals to use only Ganesh idols made of mud as they are environment-friendly and also considered ideal for worshipping.

She said that PoP idols are a hazard to nature as they do not get dissolved in water and also, contaminate waterbodies. People should outrightly reject PoP idols in their own interest, she said.

Task forces

The Deputy Commissioner also said that as the Ganesh festival is fast approaching, coordination committee meetings of various departments are being held and village, taluk and district-level task forces are being made active.

Along with directions for conducting awareness programmes, authorities have been directed to conduct raids and seize banned PoP idols.