Like at every festive season, water bodies across India are handing their cities humongous bills for ecological damages. The Greater Chennai Corporation has cleared as much as 139 tonnes of waste from five beaches following Vinayagar or Ganesh Chaturthi immersions over the weekend. Last year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation dredged up 1,982 tonnes of plaster of Paris following the same festival. This year, although the municipality has built 383 artificial ponds to curb pollutants leaking into public water bodies, it has simultaneously planned for worse outcomes. The National Green Tribunal’s 2015 bar on immersing non-biodegradable and other toxic materials is still observed mostly in breach. If we do not make our festivals pollution-free today, we will cede the right to demand cleaner water, air and soil tomorrow.
