HYDERABAD: With Ganesh festivities round the corner, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has initiated steps to provide hassle-free idol immersions by setting up portable prefabricated reinforced plastic water ponds, temporary excavation water tanks and baby ponds across the twin cities. The corporation aims to see that the strain on the water bodies is reduced to a large extent by avoiding idol immersions in lakes.
GHMC has planned 74 immersion points across the city which include portable tanks (24), excavation ponds (23) and baby ponds (27). This would also help devotees not travel long distances for immersion and to avoid crowding.
The places for setting up these temporary immersion points have been identified and works would begin soon. This is being taken up in the light of Supreme Court orders restraining the State government on immersing PoP idols. Following which the GHMC has requested citizens and organisers to immerse smaller and medium PoP idols only in portable and artificial ponds.
GHMC officials told TNIE that the size of the FRP portable pond will be 20X10 metres with a depth of 1.35-1.50 metres where idols up to four feet height can be immersed. 27 baby artificial ponds of 8x10 feet are also in the making. GHMC will excavate as many as 23 places for the immersion of idols which will be used as temporary immersion pools.
The artificial ponds are created by digging a pit about five to six feet deep and then covering the base and the sides with polythene to ensure that the water and pollutants do not seep into the ground.Once the festival concludes, the immersion debris and puja leftovers will be taken to the landfill for treatment and disposal.