Over 4k idols immersed in canals

Surat: Despite a ban from the Surat police to immerse Ganesha idols into water bodies or anywhere in public places, hundreds of Ganesha idols, many POP, were immersed into canals passing through Surat city.
Authorities had urged people to install clay idols at home and immerse them at home but the messages seems to have not gone well.
On Wednesday, around 100 volunteers fished out 3,500 Ganesha idols from various canals like Dindoli Canal, Parvat Patiya Canals, Kharvasa Canals in the city.
“There was a complete ban on immersion of Ganesha idols and idols made of PoP but we fished out 3,500 idols from various canals in the city and all were made of PoP materials. We took 500 idols from people who had come at canals to immerse idols and prevented them before the immersion. So, in total we collected 4,000 idols,” said Ashish Suryavanshi, president of the Sanskrutik Raksha Samiti.
“We have been doing this for the last four years to save water bodies from idol immersion. This year, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) did not make an artificial lake to immerse idols. So, people immersed idols into canals passing through the city. We also requested the police to act against those who were selling PoP idols,” he added.