Bombay High Court on Friday declared that thermocol, or polystyrene foam, can no longer be used for decorations during Ganesh Chaturthi. The court was responding to a petition filed by Thermocol Fabricator and Decoration Association, which stated that a thermocol ban would affect over 40,000 jobs. Earlier, the Maharashtra government had declared a statewide ban on plastic and thermocol items.
The Court dismissed a petition filed by the Thermocol Fabricator and Decoration Association, seeking relaxation of the ban only for this year’s Ganesh festival to be celebrated in September.
Manufacture and use of a large number of plastic and thermocol items have been banned in Maharashtra. The petition claimed the association’s members would suffer huge financial losses if decoration material made of thermocol is not permitted to be sold in the market.
The association also submitted an undertaking stating they will themselves dispose of the material. The court refused to accept the association’s undertaking that it would take back the sold thermocol material and dispose them of after the festival.