Mumbai: 

Disrespectful: Residents of Bandra don't want hoardings like this one at Parel any more. pic/varun singh

Residents of Bandra have written to the BMC to make it mandatory for all political parties to stop printing pictures of Gods on banners. With the intention of ensuring no disrespect to the Gods, they made this appeal on August 16. They were appalled after banners and posters carrying images of Gods were brought down in an unruly manner at the Juhu beach during the Ganesh festival last year.

The letter will also be distributed among all Ganesh mandals in Bandra. "We witnessed horrible scenes during the Ganpati immersion in Juhu last year. Therefore, we've decided to request our sponsors to put up banners without deities," said businessman Ashish Noria. 

Rahul Kanal, a restaurateur, who forwarded the proposal, blames political parties for the mess. "They put up banners wishing everyone during the Ganesh festival, but when it comes to maintaining or discarding these hoardings in a proper manner, they don't care. You can see people stepping on banners with images of various Gods," Kanal said.

People across the city have welcomed this initiative. Rekha Sachdev from Thane feels this should be made mandatory across the city. "In fact, displaying banners should be banned," she said. Bhavana Soni, a resident of Versova, said, "I would like to contribute to this initiative. I will make sure that all mandals in my area follow this rule."

G Rathod, assistant municipal commissioner of the H-West ward (Bandra), said, "I have not got any such letter as yet. However, it seems the residents have good intentions and we will look into the proposal."

Proper immersion

Aqeela Sayyed Khan, a resident of Malvan, ensures that any newspaper that has a reference to the Koran or name of any deity is not sold to raddiwalas. "I make sure that I cut that article and put it in a bag. At the end of every month, I immerse the articles in a river so that it does not land in unclean hands," he said.