Debris from immersion ponds dumped in the open

Vayupuri: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), in order to save lakes from pollution caused by Plaster of Paris and other chemicals used in making Ganesh idols, had created 26 artificial lakes for Ganesh immersion.

Though it was a laudable effort to save environment, but it had its shortcomings. The artificial lakes from day 1 of post-immersions fell short in capacity and depth to submerge and dissolve Ganesh idols which were in thousands and many were quite tall and huge.

So, in order to carry on the immersions without any hindrance, the GHMC staff decided to remove the immersed Ganesh idols next day and dump them in vacant places. Every day in the morning during festival, cranes with the help of sanitation workers would take out the immersed Ganesh idols and load them on trucks to be dumped in vacant land.

A large number of Ganesh idols are piling up behind Rachakonda Commissionerate. Truck load of Ganesh idols are being dumped in the vacant land behind Rachakonda Commissionerate. When asked, officials say that the ground would be levelled and would not cause inconvenience to anyone.

In several parts of the city, citizens are taking upon themselves and forming groups to remove the debris. The idols from Safilguda Lake, Kapra Lake and other nearby lakes are being dumped behind the Rachakonda Commissionerate.

From the immersion ponds, 1,109 idols from Safilguda lake and 1,200 idols from Kapra lake have been removed. Govind, a driver of one of the trucks, said, "The idols are being taken to the nearby grounds as per the directions from the authorities and once all the lakes are cleared, they will be levelled up."