Despite all the awareness programmes conducted in the city, sale of eco-friendly clay Ganesh idols is much less than their Plaster of Paris counterparts. On eve of the festival, Murli Krishna, who has been selling clay idols for 30 years now, said though the sale of idols usually hits a high a day before the festival, sales have been extremely low this year. “I had sold around 3,000 (clay) idols in a single day last year. It’s hardly even crossed 100 so far this time,” he said.
While clay Ganesh idols are sold for prices ranging between Rs 20 and Rs 80, price of Plaster of Paris idols starts at Rs 50 and goes up to Rs 2,000. V. Babu Rao, a vendor who sells both Plaster of Paris and clay idols, said there is a heavy demand for plaster of Paris idols. “Despite a 30-per cent increase in prices, the demand for PoP idols has increased by nearly 50 percent, even as demand for clay ones has reduced considerably,” Babu Rao said.