India, Sept. 12 -- Five days since the Ganesh festival concluded last Saturday with the immersion procession and several Ganesh mandals in the city are yet to dismantle their pandals which continue to obstruct busy roads and add to the traffic congestion. A month before the festival, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had announced that pandals must be removed immediately after the festival, warning of suspension of licences of mandals that failed to comply with the directive. Despite pandals remaining in many parts of the city and in some cases occupying half the road, the PMC has not taken any action thus far drawing further criticism from Punekars.

Hemant Vaidya, a resident of Kothrud, said, "Many Ganesh mandals have not removed the...