14:47
The donation box, or dan peti, at Mumbai's iconic Lalbaugcha Raja opened on Tuesday, a day after the first day of Ganeshotsav, with devotees' offerings including Indian currency, dollars, gold chains and wooden bats being found inside.
The counting of donations began after the dan peti was opened.
The offerings will be counted by a team comprising Bank of Maharashtra staff, BMC personnel, members and advisory members of the mandal, along with other colleagues involved in the process.
Mangesh Dalvi, Treasurer of Lalbaugcha Raja, told ANI, "The money that we have received will all be counted by the staff from Bank of Maharashtra, the staff from BMC, our respected members and advisory members of the mandal, and my colleagues who are working here. We will count all the money now, and after counting it, we will deposit it in Bank of Maharashtra in the evening."
Dalvi said the donations collected during the ten-day festival will support various initiatives run by the mandal.
"And whatever money is deposited over these ten days, all of it goes toward our various initiatives. We have a dialysis centre, a patient scheme, a computer centre, a library, our book bank, and all this money goes toward those initiatives," he said.
The gold and other valuables are yet to be counted and assessed. -- ANI
