PANAJI
Nearly one in five registered Ganesh idol makers and sellers in Goa have declared that their idols contain Plaster of Paris (PoP), with registrations also revealing a significant dependence on Maharashtra for supplies, particularly from Kolhapur.
According to an analysis of the Ganesh Idol Registration Portal data undertaken by the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), 90 of the 470 registrations (19.1%) declared that their idols contain PoP, accounting for 22,886 of the 77,136 idols declared. In contrast, 380 registrations, or 80.9%, reported that their idols did not contain PoP. The registration process ended on August 14.
The GSPCB had recently permitted Ganesh idols containing up to 20 per cent PoP, subject to compliance with the prescribed norms, and has said registered units will be subject to inspections and laboratory testing to verify the declared composition.
The data provides a potential enforcement trail for authorities ahead of the Ganesh festival, identifying both the number of registered operators declaring PoP and the sources from which idols are being procured.
The portal has recorded 77,136 idols across 470 registrations, including idol-making workshops and sellers. After duplicate submissions were merged and the highest-declared idol count of each applicant was considered, the total stood at 77,136.
The procurement data also points to Kolhapur in Maharashtra as the single largest out-of-state manufacturing hub supplying idols to Goa. Of the 211 registrants who named an actual supplier, place or business, 57 specifically mentioned Kolhapur as their source. Another 17 registrants explicitly identified Maharashtra as their source state.
Vaishali Arts in Kolhapur emerged as the most frequently named individual supplier, with 34 registered applicants reporting it as their source. Most of these buyers were from Bardez, followed by Bicholim and Sattari.
Karpe Arts and Bapat Camp were the next prominent supplier names, cited by 22 registrants each, while Kalpana Arts was named by eight.
Within Goa, 39 registrants reported sourcing idols locally, indicating that the State also has an established local supply network.
The registration data also shows that Bicholim has the largest number of sellers, with 53 of the 191 registrations involving selling activity, followed by Bardez with 47. Together, the two talukas account for 52.3% of all registered sellers in the State.
