Telangana HC declines to modify its order on immersion of PoP Ganesh idols in lakes

It further submitted that for the present year, since the PoP idols have been installed in various pandals across the city, they may be permitted to be immersed in the Hussain Sagar lake.All steps would be taken to remove the idols and the debris immediately after the immersion, the GHMC added.

Hyderabad, Sep 13 (PTI): The Telangana High Court on Monday refused to modify its earlier order banning immersion of Ganesh idols made of Plaster of Paris (PoP) in Hussain Sagar Lake and other lakes in the city.

Hearing a petition filed by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) seeking modification of the court's order, a bench of Acting Chief Justice M S Ramachandra Rao and Justice T Vinod Kumar said the court is not inclined to modify its order.

On September 9, the Court directed the state government to not allow immersion of Ganesh idols made of PoP in Hussain Sagar Lake and other lakes here.

After hearing a Contempt Petition, the court had directed the government to permit immersion of PoP Ganesh idols in baby ponds already constructed by the GHMC or separate areas/ponds which do not result/spread the water pollution into the main water body.

The government can also explore the use of inflatable rubber dam wall as was used while carrying on dredging operations in the Hussain Sagar lake earlier by encircling the area for immersion of idols as an alternative, the High Court said while issuing a slew of directions and closed the Contempt Case.

It further directed that the government should not permit immersion of Ganesh idols from the Tank Bund side of the Hussain Sagar lake.

Following the Court's orders, the GHMC filed a petition seeking modification of the order by relaxing the prohibitions imposed on immersion of idols made of PoP in Hussain Sagar lake and other lakes in the city and also on prohibition of immersion of idols from the Tank Bund side of the Hussain Sagar lake.

The civic body in its application said such artificially created baby ponds constructed by the GHMC are few in number.

In view of large number of PoP idols of varying sizes installed in various pandals and households across the city, the number of artificially created ponds are grossly inadequate. Thousands of PoP idols are to be immersed and they cannot be immersed in the artificially created ponds one after the other in an organised manner, it said.

Such ponds cannot take the load and volume of the idols that would be brought for immersion and this can lead to very problematic situations in terms of possibility of stampede and accidents.

The GHMC further submitted that the existing artificially created ponds cannot accommodate more than one per cent of the idols that are to be immersed. Many of the idols are of bigger height which cannot be immersed in baby ponds and immersion of such idols anywhere except Hussain Sagar this time is now practically infeasible, it said.

If the Tank Bund side of the Hussain Sagar lake is not permitted to be used for immersion, it would take almost six days for immersion to be complete, the GHMC submitted in the affidavit.

This may in turn spiral into various logistic issues and other complex issues in terms of crowd management and traffic management. It further submitted that for the present year, since the PoP idols have been installed in various pandals across the city, they may be permitted to be immersed in the Hussain Sagar lake.

All steps would be taken to remove the idols and the debris immediately after the immersion, the GHMC added.