Mumbai: The BMC began work on an artificial pond inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) from Wednesday, which will be used for immersion of idols after the conclusion of Ganeshotsav. The pond will be an alternative to the park lake and the Dahisar river.
The move comes after River March, a citizens’ group working for rejuvenation of rivers in the city, took the civic body and SGNP officials into confidence. “The initiative is taken to save the Dahisar river from plaster of Paris, which pollutes the river body and endangers the river rejuvenation plan,” said Gopal Jhaveri, founding member of River March.
The artificial pond will be built near the play area opposite the boating lake where immersion is done. It will be nine feet deep and Ganesh idols about 4-5 feet high can be immersed in it, said Ramakant Biradar, assistant commissioner, R-Central Ward. More than 3,300 individual household Ganpati idols are immersed in the river every year.
Biradar said the decision was taken by the civic body, SGNP authorities and Mumbai Police. “We decided to act immediately, since the festival is at hand. The immersion was polluting the park lake and affecting the water quality. We hope to shift a majority of immersions to the artificial pond; it will be a huge boost for environment,” he added.
Besides diverting the Ganpati idols to artificial pond, the civic body and park authorities also aims to get people to desist from immersing idols altogether. There will be a counter set up during immersion days for devotees who want to donate their idols, as opposed to immersion.
“The aim is to hand over those idols to non-governmental organisations striving for the poor, so that they can re-paint the idols and sell them next year. That is what recycling is all about,” said an SGNP official. The official added they would spread awareness about the artificial pond, as well as idol donation, in Borivli.