Scarcity of Ganesha idols in Aurangabad

The July deluge has thrown up an unexpected aside - the prices of Ganesh idols in the Aurangabad region have gone up, leaving devotees fuming.

Ganesh devotees here have had to shell out more for their deity's idols as a scarcity of idols hit the city, following the floods and the heavy rains which brought the idol makers' work to a standstill, pushed up prices. A typical Rs"�11 idol was going for Rs 200 during the run upto the festival.

Heavy rains which brought the city to a standstill saw idol makers shipping their stock to Mumbai and Pune, which has created a scarcity for Ganesha idols in the city.

Infact, the situation is so bad that on Wednesday that idol makers here started selling unfinished rough cut moulds to meet the demand. They asked the customers to paint the eyes, besides adding finishing touches to the idol before performing puja.

Things were so bad that a tiny 3-inch idol was going at Rs 51. And one 1-foot idols were beibng sold for Rs 501. There were serpentine queques for the idols before every stall.

Some customers even ended up idols which had cracks, which is considered a bad omen. Devchand Dulhat, a customer from the Kaccheghati area, said that he succeeded in insatlling the idol only by around 11.30 at night, despite the heavy price he paid for it.

Devotees who had come from the rural areas in large processions to purchase idols in the city returned disappointed.

Many villagers who could not procure an idol had to settle for photographs, city dealers said.