CSMC’s Zone V office accused of denying permission to 19 mandals

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

This year, Ganeshotsav is being celebrated with great enthusiasm. For the past month, Ganesh mandals have been preparing various decorative tableaux, which will be open for devotees to view starting Friday. However, it has come to light that the municipal corporation’s Zone No. 5 office has denied permission to as many as 19 Ganesh mandals.

Earlier, mandals had to run around multiple government offices for permissions. In recent years, the government introduced the One-Window Scheme, under which officers and staff from MSEDCL, Police, Municipal Corporation, and other departments sit together and issue permissions collectively. Accordingly, a One-Window Cell was set up in the CSMC’s Town Hall building before Ganeshotsav. By Thursday evening, a total of 163 mandals applied for permissions, out of which 144 were granted permissions. The remaining 19 mandals from the jurisdiction of Zone 5 were denied. Out of 21 applications only two were cleared.

According to sources, ward engineers in Zone 5 issue permission for pandal stages, while ward officers examine other aspects before final approval. However, since the concerned officials have kept 19 mandals on “waiting,” resentment is being expressed across the zone.

Zone wise permission status

Of the 10 zones, Zone 5 rejected permissions to 19 mandals, while no application was made from Zone 6 and 10. The remaining seven zones cleared all the applications. From Zone 1 - 24 applications, Zone 2 - 23 applications, Zone 3 - 06 applications, Zone 4 - 21 applications, Zone 7 - 57 applications, Zone 8 - 03 applications, and Zone 9 - 08 applications.