mumbai the search for alternatives to plaster of paris pop idols has begun in right earnest as maharashtra prepares to celebrate what could be its final ganeshotsav before pop is banned in 2023little workshops across the mumbai metropolitan region mmr have turned into laboratories of sorts as they experiment with a variety of raw material like banana trees fish food tissue paper clay red soil even alum a few moortikars are also revisiting the art of carving idols from cow dung called gobar ganesh that hark back to an old indian tradition cow dung is packed tight into a mould and ready in 15 minutes but can take up to a week to dry gobar ganesh idols are fashioned in sparse locations like nerul pune and bhopalthe ban on pop will spawn new environmentfriendly alternatives indian artisans are very innovative and are already carving ganesh idols using diverse raw material we ourselves source and sell moortis made of red soil shadu mati a 7030 blend of papier mache and clay even alum haldikumkum people who want permanent installations opt for gold and silver figurines idols made of cow dung are also gaining attention lately said entrepreneur anil paltankar who launched a website named mymurti in 2020 to help small unlettered artisans sell idols during the pandemicnaresh dahibawkar president of the brihanmumbai sarvajanik ganeshotsav samanvay samiti bsgss has commissioned a unique idol made of banana fibre to vile parle moortikar ramesh mayekar dahibawkar said i will install this moorti in my village home for one and a half day time and again our samiti is accused of championing the pop idol carvers at the cost of the environment so i decided to dispel this myth by bringing home a banana fibre ganesh i have been encouraging artisans like mayekar to pursue green alternativesmayekars workshop in vile parle east is a veritable storehouse of innovative ganpatis we have been carving the 20 ft tall vile parle cha peshwa from tissue paper which is so light that merely four people can lift it and my alum ganpatis are 1213 ft tall this time i crushed the core of the banana tree ground and dried the fibre to make a small 15 inch ganesh moorti for dahibawkar i am currently experimenting with fish food as raw material but it still gives off a foul odour i hope to overcome this hurdle by next yearthe bmc has deferred implementing the central pollution control boards ban on pop till 2023 cm eknath shinde has appointed a study group to seek alternatives to pop and the ban will be deliberated once the group submits its report said harshad kale deputy municipal commissioner zone 2 and ganeshotsav coordinator