Mumbai civic schools ban artificial Ganpati visarjan ponds over safety concerns

The ground at Tare Marg Mumbai Public School in Dahisar being refilled. Pics/By Special arrangement

After an education committee meeting last week, the civic body has declared a zero-tolerance policy against creating artificial ponds for visarjan in civic schools.

The Brihanmumbai Education Department reiterated that school premises are meant for academic, sports, and other student activities, warning of safety hazards from such ponds.

Safety concerns

"If an artificial pond is created for Ganpati immersion at this place, there is a possibility of creating many problems in terms of safety of the students as well as the cleanliness and health of the school premises. The remaining Nirmalya, mud, water and other waste after Ganpati immersion can make the school premises unclean and affect the regular school activities of the students," stated the letter released by the civic body.

Dahisar case

The move comes after the playground at Dahisar's Tare Marg Mumbai Public School was dug up to accommodate a Ganapati visarjan tank.

Ground concerns

Priyank Raut, Education committee member and local corporator at Dahisar
‘The school was always good at throwball and got medals for the same; this year they barely qualified for the tournament due to the lack of practice space. This change of protecting school spaces was in order. Now we need to ensure that the debris used to refill this ground is safe from all hazards, as the students also practise sports like kabaddi and kushti there. Any uneven shards could result in an injury.'