Hyderabad: Massive dip in Ganesh festival debris this 2020 year

Hyderabad: Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) took up the task of clearing the remnants of Ganesh idols and other material from Hussain Sagar post Ganesh festival.

Unlike every year, the Ganesh immersion was a low-key affair at Tank bund due to the ongoing pandemic scare, but that still did not stop a few devotees from attending immersion processions. According to the city police around 35,000 idols were immersed in Hussain Sagar lake over the span of 11 days. Last year, the same numbers were around 55,000.

To clear the waste from the lake HMDA deployed three dredge utility crafts and two floating trash collectors to clear the trash from the lake which were pressed into service immediately after the immersion ceremony was completed. Similarly, the GHMC workers cleared all the waste from pavements and on Tank Bund and NTR Marg and other stretches, an additional workforce was deployed to clear the waste.

Rag pickers collect clothes, coins, wooden material, and other usable items littered on the banks of Hussainsagar Lake after the immersion of Ganesh idols.

"This year, around 40 to 50 metric tonnes of garbage was lifted in and around Hussain Sagar lake, last year the same was around 102 metric tonnes. Unlike last year the numbers have gone down as the size of idols has decreased compared to last year," said an HMDA official.

"No additional waste was generated as the number of devotees coming for immersion were less this year at various locations during Shobha Yatra at Tank Bund, " he adds further Annually, two to three thousands of metric tonnes of waste is excavated from the lake, and with the idol sizes being small, there was not much of idol remnants including frames to clear up this year.