Hyderabad: City-based artisans heaved a sigh of relief as the Telangana High Court did not issue an order restricting the use of plaster of Paris (PoP) in making idols of deities, for Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga Puja, on the grounds that the state government has not issued a government order banning or prohibiting the same.
The case pertains to a PIL filed by artisan bodies against guidelines issued by the central pollution control board, banning the use of PoP in idols.
A division bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice S. Nanda, adjourning the case until September, when the legality of the CPCB guidelines would be assessed, however, stated that the Telangana government should issue a G.O. on alternative arrangements for immersing Ganesh idols made of PoP and other materials — as opposed to Hussainsagar and other lakes — by August 31, before the start of the Ganesh Chaturthi.
The High Court cited guidelines of the Supreme Court not to allow immersion of PoP…