s it possible to organise an eco-friendly immersion of Ganesha idols at the culmination of the community Ganesha festival? It may be difficult, but the effort put in by the Municipal authorities at Bhainsa town in district comes very close to it.
Unlike the usual practice of immersing the idols in Gaddennavagu project on the outskirts of the town, the idols from Bhainsa will be immersed in specially dug wells on the fringes of the reservoir on Friday. The twin wells are 20 ft and 25 ft deep respectively and the diameter is about 25 ft each which can accommodate all the 108 idols, mostly made of Plaster of Paris (PoP) on steel frames.
The pits, which have been filled with water from the reservoir, were actually dug as an alternative means for the event as this year the reservoir does not have sufficient water for idol immersion. The pits will be helping control pollution of the water body though it was not intended that way.
“Yes, the wells will save the water in the reservoir from getting polluted,” pointed out Bhainsa DSP Ande Ramulu, who was instrumental in motivating the Municipal authorities to devise such a plan.
This is a doubly important development for citizens of Bhainsa as they get their supply of drinking water from this reservoir. Conservative estimates put the pollution caused in the irrigation reservoir to be of the size of 50 tonnes of Plaster of Paris every year during the Ganesh festival. The PoP can be left in the new pits.
“The idea can be replicated elsewhere also,” suggested Md. Khaleel, the contractor working on the wells. True, it can be tried out in Godavari at Basar where a large number of idols from Nizamabad will be immersed and the river is dry as of now for the event.
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