Record insurance cover for Mumbai''s richest Ganesh pandal
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, August 28
Mumbai's richest Ganesh pandal put up by the Goud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) Seva Mandal at the King's Circle neighbourhood has taken an insurance cover of a record Rs 266.65 crore this year.
The comprehensive cover includes the idol and the jewellery adorning it, the pandal itself, volunteers and workers and devotees over the five days the Ganesh idol is installed by the GSB Mandal, according to an office-bearer of the Mandal. Most contingencies including terror
attacks and riots part from fire, burglary and accidents have been covered by the insurance policy issued by a PSU company.
The GSB Mandal is called Mumbai's richest Ganesh pandal because of the huge amounts of jewellery adorning the idol. Apart from 90 kg of gold jewellery, more than 300 kg of silver will also be used for its decoration, according to information provided by the mandal to the local police.
The jewellery is kept in bank lockers and taken out during every Ganesh festival.
The insurance policy is effective from the time the idol is installed till it is immersed and the gold jewellery replaced in the bank locker, according to a Mandal office-bearer.
Last year, the GSB Mandal had taken an insurance cover for Rs 265 crores.
Expectedly security will be tight at the pandal. According to the King's Circle police, CCTV cameras installed both in and outside the pandals will be monitored regularly. In addition, private security
agencies hired by the Mandal will be deploying drones equipped with cameras which will hover around devotees, employees and volunteers.
Despite the slowdown, the collection by this Mandal is only expected to increase. "We get maximum collections from pujas during the festival. Last year we conducted 66,000 pujas and this would go up by another 6,000 this year," says a trustee of the Mandal.
