27 August,2011 06:55 AM IST | | Chetna Sadadekar
The mandal at King's Circle, richest in city, has insured its pandal, devotees, deity's ornaments for 15 days with the stupendous amount
After speculation that the insurance cover of Gaud Saraswat Brahman mandal's Ganesh festivities would cross Rs 50 crore, trustees revealed that the final amount is coming to a whopping Rs 221.7 crore.
MiD DAY had reported earlier ('Rs 50 crore insurance cover for Ganesha') that the mandal's insurance cover is likely to cross the Rs 50 crore mark this Ganeshotsav.
The 15-day insurance period of GSB Mandal begins from today
Subsequently, the whopping figure is what the city's richest Ganpati mandal, the GSB Seva Sadan, has opted for, to indemnify its Ganesh celebrations starting September 1.
The components of the insurance are as follows: the amount for the 'Standard fire and Special Perils with Terrorism' cover is Rs 1.35 crore.
The public liability, which will insure the mandal members, stands at Rs 20 crore. The all-risk policy includes the gold ornaments, and stands at Rs 18.35 crore.
Devotees' insurance
And finally, the personal accident insurance for devotees, some 1,820 persons, is Rs 10 lakh each, which equals to Rs 182 crore.
Confirming the same, GSB trustee Satish Nayak said, "Four quotations from various companies had come in
and New India Assurance bagged the insurance with competitive and attractive incentives.
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The insurance is for 15 days starting from August 27." Last year, the insurance cover of the mandal stood at Rs 49.5 crore, around five times less than this year.
Lalbaugcha Raja neighbours get photo IDs
If you are a guest of one of the residents of Lalbaug and plan to visit your relatives during Ganeshotsav, it is not going to be a breeze.
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The residents of Lalbaug would be forced to carry photo identity cards during the 11 days of the festival, which starts on September 1.
The ID check comes in after the Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh Mandal decided at a meeting two days ago to issue photo identity cards to around 2,500 residents staying in the 700 houses in the area where the Raja holds court.
Rupesh Pawar, a member of Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh Mandal, confirmed the news. "We arrived at the decision in order to strengthen security arrangements so that no one sneaks in by giving the reference of a resident in order to get the darshan."
"The crowds thronging Lalbaug during Ganeshotsav cross the 20 lakh-mark every day. Many people try to avoid the queue, saying they are going to meet relatives in the area.
To avoid this, we are issuing photo ID cards to residents", said a senior member of the mandal. He added that it was also to reinforce the security against anti-social elements.
For two years now, they Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh mandal has stopped taking money for the Raja's habiliments.
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The mandal used to have a waiting list of 70-80 people every year, desirous of dressing the Raja after their wishes were fulfilled.
Rs 14 crore
The amount Lalbaugcha Raja has been insured for this year, almost three times more than its last year's insurance cover (R5 crore).
20 Lakh
The number of people, who throng Lalbaugcha Raja every day during the 10-day festival.
