27 August,2025 07:23 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Ganesh festival began in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra on Wednesday. File Pic/Ashish Raje
As the Ganesh festival 2025 began on Wednesday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that this year it has set up 288 artificial ponds for the immersion of Ganesh idols.
In a post on X, the Mumbai civic body shared the list of all the artificial ponds in the city for the Lord Ganesh idol visarjan.
The 10-day Ganesh festival began in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra on Wednesday, with people enthusiastically welcoming their favourite elephant-headed god into their homes, housing complexes, and public pandals.
Chants of 'Ganpati Bappa Morya, Mangal Murti Morya' filled the air as small, medium and large Lord Ganesh idols of the deity, accompanied by rhythmic beats of 'dhol-tasha'(drums), made their way into the devotees' hearts and homes.
Elaborate decorations have been put up all over Mumbai to welcome the Lord, revered as the harbinger of prosperity and destroyer of obstacles.
For the first time, the Maharashtra government has declared the Ganesh celebrations as a state festival.
Earlier, the Bombay High Court had directed that Plaster of Paris (PoP) idols up to 6 feet in height should be immersed only in artificial ponds during Ganeshotsav and Navratri festivals.
Subsequently, the government of Maharashtra issued directives on August 1, requiring local bodies to create additional artificial ponds. According to these directives, all idols under 6 feet in height must be immersed in artificial lakes.
This year, the Government of Maharashtra has also declared the Ganesh festival as the official state festival, with a focus on promoting nature-friendly and eco-friendly practices on a large scale.
Meanwhile, to encourage the use of eco-friendly clay idols, the BMC has distributed more than 990 tonnes of free shadu (clay) soil to sculptors, along with 10,800 litres of natural paint on an experimental basis.
Of this, 7800 litres of paint and 3000 litres of eco-primer have already been provided.
The BMC has also appealed to Mumbaikars to immerse small Ganesh idols in buckets at home. The civic body has also set up artificial lakes across Mumbai for the immersion of idols, whether made of clay or Plaster of Paris (PoP). Devotees are encouraged to use these lakes for immersion. The list of artificial lakes is available on the BMC website (https://www.mcgm.gov.in), and QR codes providing access to the list are being circulated through various social media platforms. The Mumbai civic body administration has urged citizens to locate the nearest immersion lake and perform the rituals.
