India, March 13 -- After the Bombay high court and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) ban on idols made of Plaster of Paris (POP), the Maharashtra government is going all out to gather "scientific evidence" to counter the fact that POP idols contribute immensely to water pollution.

State environment minister Pankaja Munde declared in the assembly that the government had requested Anil Kakodkar, head of the Rajiv Gandhi Science and Technology Commission (RJSTC), to conduct a study and share the exact reasons why POP idols were bad for water bodies. Munde said that last year, the then chief minister Eknath Shinde formed a committee headed by the chief secretary to study the matter and suggest solutions to the problem, and declared that...