Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis today said that Ganesh mandals having "genuine issues" or "technical problems" can seek permission from the BMC till September 5 for erecting pandals.
The Mumbai civic body had set a deadline of September 2 for Ganesh mandals to get permissions but this had been opposed by several mandals who claimed that the time frame was too short.
The Shiv Sena, which is the ruling party in the BMC and has a strong presence among these mandals, had also objected to the September 2 deadline as well what the party termed as stricter norms for issuing permissions.
Fadnavis today held a meeting with Ganesh mandal representatives which was also attended by BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta and some Mumbai-based MLAs.
Speaking on the deadline, Fadnavis said, "The mandals should get permissions by September 2. If some mandals have genuine issues or technical problems, they can seek permissions till September 5."
Fadnavis said that the BMC had started issuing permissions online from this year and it will help mandals next year as data like registration, location and the like would already be stored with the civic body's data bank.
BJP MLA Ashish Shelar, who led the delegation of Ganesh mandals, said that the state government had decided to withdraw criminal cases against mandal members.
"The state government had formed a sub-committee for withdrawal of criminal charges against members of Ganesh mandals. As per its recommendations, charges will be withdrawn," Shelar said.
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