For years, Sunil Mayekar has been troubled by what Ganeshotsav leaves behind in the ponds and lakes near his home in Vile Parle.

He saw chalky sludge, flaking paint and idols that refused to dissolve for months on end.

It is why, in 2008, his family's mandal decided to stop buying idols altogether. They started building their own giant Ganesha every year instead, out of the very things most people throw away.

The year tissue paper replaced plaster of Paris

The Bal Gopal Mitra Mandal is run by residents of Siddhivinayak Society in Vile Parle East. It has existed since 1989.

Its approach to Ganeshotsav changed when sculptor Digambar Mayekar and his sons, Sunil and Rajesh, began experimenting with alternatives to plaster of Paris around 2008.

Watching lakes turn murky after every immersion, the family decided their celebration should leave nothing behind. All three were trained in idol-making.

They settled on tissue paper stretched over a bamboo frame, a method similar to the pulped-newspaper idols that households across India now shape at home on a smaller scale.

Later, they began adding used flowers collected after the festival for texture and colour.

How 30,000 tissue papers became a 22-foot Ganpati

Building the idol takes months of unhurried, hands-on work. Bamboo sticks are lashed together with natural gum to form a towering skeleton.

Layers of soaked tissue paper are then moulded by hand over this frame and left to dry in the........

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