Monday, December 6, 2010

No more artificial pond for Ganesha immersions

No more artificial pond for Ganesha immersions
A year ago, NMMC had developed artificial and temporary ponds for immersion of Lord Ganesha idols during the Ganesh Utsav, to keep the natural ponds free from pollution. However, the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti is irked by the idea of immersion of the idols in stagnant water.
As per the convenor of the committee Shivaji Vatkar it is an insult to Lord Ganesha. He expressed "As per the custom the idols have to be immersed only in flowing water and not in the stagnant water. And hence the Corporation must not make any temporary arrangements like the artificial ponds."
Keeping in mind the rising pollution in the natural ponds of the city due to immersion of idols of Lord Ganesha, the then Standing Committee Chairman Sandeep Naik had decided to take up some pro-active step. This is what made the Naik to come up with an idea to develop temporary and artificial ponds in Navi Mumbai. As a pilot project ponds were developed in Kopri, Vashi and Shiravane. There were few who accepted the step and immersed the idol in it.
As the Ganesh Utsav is nearing, the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti has started awareness programme amongst the residents appealing not to immerse the idols in artificial or temporary ponds.
A panel of committee including Navi Mumbai invitees Dr Uday Dhuri, member Ramesh Sanil, Sneha Harmalkar and others met Mayor Sagar Naik and demanded to stop developing such ponds. And the Mayor has accepted their woes and ensured that this year there will be no such artificial ponds. Naik informed "This year we will not make any artificial pond instead we will make two parts of the existing ponds and make arrangements for proper customised immersion of the idols."
The panel also approached Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nahata and the city engineer to ensure that their problem gets looked after by them.

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