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Big Ganesh mandals leave no stone unturned in insuring idols against floods & theft

Since the last five to seven years, bigger Ganesh Mandals have been taking insurance cover against liabilities to life and property for the 10-day festival celebrating the elephant-god Ganesh.

August 30, 2017 / 03:16 PM IST
An artisan walks past the idols of Hindu elephant god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, kept inside a workshop in Mumbai September 3, 2013. The idols will be paraded through the streets in a procession during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, accompanied by dancing and singing. They will then be immersed in a river or the sea symbolizing a ritual send-off of Ganesh's journey towards his abode in "Kailash", while taking away with him the misfortunes of all mankind. The festival will be celebrated on September 9. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui (INDIA - Tags: SOCIETY RELIGION) - RTX135P3

An artisan walks past the idols of Hindu elephant god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, kept inside a workshop in Mumbai September 3, 2013. The idols will be paraded through the streets in a procession during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, accompanied by dancing and singing. They will then be immersed in a river or the sea symbolizing a ritual send-off of Ganesh's journey towards his abode in "Kailash", while taking away with him the misfortunes of all mankind. The festival will be celebrated on September 9. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui (INDIA - Tags: SOCIETY RELIGION) - RTX135P3


It is not just people who had to brave the Mumbai rains yesterday to get home. Lord Ganesh had to face the nature’s fury, too. At a Mandal in Borivali, a suburb in Mumbai, the Ganesh idol was washed away with the floods even as water levels rose to a dangerously high level in that area. While this Mandal wasn’t insured, taking help of insurance against man-made and natural catastrophes is essential for minimising the financial impact from losses.

Since the last five to seven years, bigger Ganesh Mandals have been taking insurance cover against liabilities to life and property for the 10-day festival celebrating the elephant-god Ganesh.

The most crowded Ganesh Mandal, Lalbaugcharaja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav has taken a cover of Rs 51 crore that covers both the volunteers at the venue as well as the ornaments, valuables and the idol itself. Nearly 1.8 million people visit the Mandal every year, which in insurance parlance is an ‘insurable risk’.

The primary risk arising out of crowded Ganesh Mandals is the threat of a stampede or any accident (fire, terrorism, flood, storm or earthquake) leading to loss of human lives. Apart from this, any damage to the idol or theft of cash and valuables is a significant risk for the organisers of the festival. For this, both public sectors, as well as a handful of private sector general insurers, offer specialised covers.

KG Krishnamoorthy Rao, MD & CEO, Future Generali India Insurance said that it is usually the larger Mandals that take a specific cover for the festival. “Not just the ornaments, some of them also take a cover for the idol itself,” he added.

Event specific covers have also become common. For example, Ganesh Mandals across Mumbai were given an option to take an insurance of up to Rs 2 crore to cover the ten-day festivities that began from August 25. IRM Insurance Brokers along with Oriental Insurance is offering a cover ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 crore.

The cover came into effect on August 24 itself and will be valid for a duration of 23 days. The premiums range from Rs 3,000 to Rs 2.45 lakh depending on the size of the cover.



This product will cover incidents related to fire, terrorism, natural catastrophes, stampede, theft, robbery, cover for the cash and valuables, food poisoning from Prasad, public liability and cover against physical injury for visitors and volunteers.

All the registered Mandals will be eligible to take this cover. There is also an inclusion of personal accident cover for 50-100 volunteers working in the respective Mandals. The scheme will also have a personal accident cover (Rs 1 lakh) for 100 volunteers for a similar premium.



If a Mandal pays a premium of Rs 2.45 lakh, they can take a cover of Rs 2 crore each for fire, terrorism and allied perils, theft/robbery, public liability, cover for cash moving to/from banks, cash in locker/donation boxes, and valuables on idol/lockers.

Large individual mandals like Lalbaugcharaja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal, GSB Kings Circle and GSB Wadala take separate insurance covers for the valuables (cash, jewellery), volunteers and general public visiting the premises.

Public sector insurance companies are the prominent players in this space. A senior public sector general insurance executive said that smaller mandals do not want to incur additional costs of insurance.

“We have made pitches to prominent mandals across Mumbai and Pune. But some of them are conservative and do not wish to take on another expenditure in the form of insurance premium,” he added.

The covers usually extend till the time the idol is sent for immersion. Since lakhs of devotees throng the mandals on every day of the 10-day festival, those with higher footfalls take appropriate insurance covers as protection.

In 2016, GSB Seva Mandal, Kings Circle, which is considered to be the richest ganpati mandal in the city, took an insurance cover of Rs 300 crore for the event. This included cover for the gold and silver jewellery, valuables, the shed itself, among others. Further, the cover also included the 2200 volunteers and also has public liability and personal accident covered. This year, they have taken a cover of Rs 265 crore.

If there is an incident of flooding that damages the idol or the mandal premises, spot claims are paid by the insurance companies based on the assessments made.

M Saraswathy
first published: Aug 30, 2017 03:10 pm

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