Ganpati mandap permissions in Kalyan-Dombivli have been delayed just days before the festival, leaving several public Ganesh mandals waiting for no-objection certificates from the police, traffic authorities and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited, according to a report by Loksatta – Thane.
Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation officials had instructed departments to issue permissions quickly through the civic body’s single-window system. The mandals submitted online applications around 10 days before the festival. However, with the festival four days away, several organisers said they were still visiting ward offices to ask when their permissions would be approved.
The single-window process is intended to coordinate clearances required to erect temporary mandaps on roads. After a public Ganesh mandal submits an online application, the file is processed through the municipal assistant commissioner, deputy engineer, police, traffic department, MSEDCL and fire department. The application is approved only after the required departments issue their no-objection certificates.
According to the report, applications were processed at ward level and forwarded to the police, traffic and electricity authorities after action by the civic administration and fire department. Delays in obtaining certificates from the police, traffic department and MSEDCL have kept applications pending. The report said the response from MSEDCL had been particularly slow.
A civic official told Loksatta that an application remains listed as pending in the online system until all departments provide their clearances. Even when most departments have approved a proposal, the application cannot be shown as completed if one department’s permission is still outstanding.
The delay has also affected preparations at mandaps that have already been erected along roads. Organisers told the newspaper that they cannot take electricity connections or complete other work at the sites until the civic corporation issues formal approval. The pending permissions therefore affect not only the legal status of the structures but also their basic preparations before the festival.
Municipal Commissioner Abhinav Goyal had directed officials around 10 days earlier to provide immediate approvals to public Ganesh mandals through the single-window arrangement. The process remains dependent on coordinated responses from multiple departments, including agencies outside the municipal corporation.
The report did not provide the total number of pending applications or a department-wise breakdown of the delays. It also did not record a separate response from the police, traffic department or MSEDCL. The immediate administrative issue is the completion of the remaining no-objection certificates before the festival begins.
