Insurance for Ganpati mandals rises

With rising costs and higher risks involved, Ganpati mandals in Mumbai are going the extra mile to protect their idols, jewellery and devotees. Insurance sums for these mandals have almost tripled, compared to last year.

The GSB Seva Mandal at Kings Circle Mumbai tops the list with Rs 150 crore. The mandal had an insurance of Rs 50 crore last year. The sum tripled this year due to the increased costs of lighting, decoration, labour force and arrangement of the pandals. “This year, the costs of all products have increased. Considering the skyrocketing prices of gold and silver, we decided to have insurance of Rs 16 crore for jewellery. We have also allocated Rs 3 crore from that amount for the mandap maintenance and decoration,” says Dinesh Pai, spokesperson of GSB Seva Mandal. A sum of Rs 132 crore has been allocated for the 1,000 volunteers and devotees. At Rs 14 crore, insurance for Lalbaugcha Raja, the city’s most popular mandal, is far behind GSB. “Owing to higher costs of setting up the mandap, we have increased the insurance amount significantly this year,” says Ashok Pawar of Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal. Last year’s figure was Rs 6 crore.

 

One of the organisers at a Ganpati mandal said the mandaps were taking more precaution due to terror attacks this year. “Inflation is also an inevitable reason for increase in the insurance amount,” he added. New India Assurance Company Ltd is the insurer for both the above mandals.

Other mandals, however, continue to be conservative in their approach. One of the organisers of a Ganesh Puja near Girgaum says insurance is still a controversial issue. “What is the need for so much glitz and grandeur at a purely spiritual event that you need insurance to protect it,” he asks.