PMC makes arrangements for visarjan of over 50,000 domestic Ganpati idols
PMC makes arrangements for visarjan of over 50,000 domestic Ganpati idolsBy spending Rs 25 lakh on creating 50 tanks for domestic Ganapati and 104 nirmalya collection containers, the Pune Municipal Corporation has made preparations for Ganapati immersion near the Mutha river. To prevent any controversy PMC has planned to video shoot the disposal of immersed Ganapati.
Household Ganapatis are often immersed before the idols of big mandals Vivek Kharwadkar, additional city engineer, PMC who is in charge of Ganesh Immersion Committee (GIC), said they were expecting over 50,000 Ganapati idols today. "Disposal of the immersed Ganapati will be done as per the Maharahstra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) directives," he said.
Ajay Vaishampayan, honorary consultant for GIC, said a demand had been made to assess the impact on the environment after the immersion. "PMC's official water testing lab will do this after the immersion. We want to assess the increase in lead, calcium sulphate, zinc and BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) and COD (chemical oxygen demand) level," he said.
Tank for Ganapati immersion are optional not compulsory for the people, Vaishampayan said. "A register will be kept at the river as well as at the tanks to take down suggestions and recommendations from people who come there for immersion. The immersed deities will be re-immersed at stone quarries, unused wells and some water bodies near the city area," he said.
Suresh Jagtap, deputy commissioner, PMC (Garbage Segregation), said, "We had total of 700 tones of nirmalya last year and this year we expect about 750 to 800 tones. The preparation for making vermin compost will be made in PMC's gardens."
"Ecoexist and Swach, eco-friendly NGOs, have prepared the nirmalya collection and recycling activities to help the PMC at all the 14 ghats along the Mula and Mutha river," said Shabana Diler of Swach.u00a0
Lolita Gupta of Ecoexist said, "Like last year we will recycle about 200 tones of the nirmalya."u00a0
Dileer and Gupta also appealed to the people to use water tanks provided by the PMC for Ganapati immersion and segregate their own nirmalya.
