India, Aug. 5 -- With just 40 days left before the Ganesh festival, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday asked the Bombay High Court for three years to gradually phase out Plaster-of-Paris (PoP) idols and continue last year's relaxation on their immersion. The court, however, questioned why the state had not acted sooner despite the issue being pending for years.

Appearing before a division bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Kamal Khata, Advocate General Milind Sathe submitted that while the State is ready to follow Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to use eco-friendly clay idols but could not impose a complete ban this year because PoP idols had already been manufactured.

"We will be positively considering the PM's appeal but we n...