BMC steps up prep; beaches cleaned, security ramped up for Day 10 visarjan
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi with a vibrant procession at Terminal 2, Andheri East, on Friday. PIC/SATEJ SHINDE
Around 7000 sarvajanik Ganesh idols will be immersed on Anant Chaturdashi today, marking the end of the 10-day-long Ganesh festival. While over 12,000 community idols are brought in by Ganesh mandals across Mumbai, 5400 mandals already immersed their idols on Day 5 and Day 7. According to official figures, the most community idol immersions took place at Chowpatty, followed by Dadar beach and Marve jetty. However, following the orders of the Bombay High Court, all idols smaller than six feet in height will be immersed in artificial ponds this year.
Naresh Dahibavkar, who heads the Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti, said, “This year, coordination has taken place to comply with high court orders, and every mandal’s idol will be immersed in an artificial pond if it is lesser than six feet in height.”
Civic staff clean Dadar beach. PIC/BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
According to Dahibavkar, there are several Ganesh mandals that are not aware of the updates from the Bombay High Court. “We are putting in our best efforts to inform all mandals whose idols are lesser than six feet to not commute towards a natural immersion site, and locate artificial ponds closest to their area for immersion.”
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has set up 290 artificial ponds across the city. “We have taken care to place artificial ponds near natural immersions sites as well. At Girgaum, Dadar, and Bandra, artificial ponds are on the beaches themselves. Anyone with small idols who approaches these natural water bodies for immersions will be asked to immerse idols in the artificial ponds,” said a senior civic official.
A QR code has been generated with a real-time list of the location of all artificial ponds across Mumbai, and a route to the map. This has been linked with Google Maps, to enable organisers of Ganesh mandals to locate artificial ponds closest to their area, as per information provided by the BMC.
On Friday, the civic body also undertook beach clean-up drives at all the beaches which are natural immersion sites. A staff member in charge of cleaning Dadar beach, said, “There is a possibility that devotees can trip and fall on garbage that has accumulated on the beach after a high tide.”
Speaking about other measures being taken, the official said that steel plates are being installed at Girgaon to facilitate immersion of tall idols. In compliance with HC directives, the sludge will be collected from the natural water bodies within 24 hours after the immersion, by Sunday evening. It will be dried and scientifically treated for disposal, a senior civic official said.
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