Nagpur: The Mayor Pravin Datke on Tuesday appealed those devotees who have installed Lord Ganesh idols made of Plaster of Paris (POP) to immerse them at artificial tanks only in order to save environment. The arrangements of creating the artificial tanks are being made by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) at various immersion places such as Ambazari, Futala, Gandhisagar, Sakkardara, Naik Talao and at various other water bodies, Datke said.
The Mayor was presiding a high-level meeting to review immersion and other arrangements being made at various places. The meeting, held at Civil Lines office of NMC, was attended among others by MLC Prof Anil Sole, Chairman of Estate, Electricity and Project Committee Sunil Agrawal, Chairman of Health Committee Devendra Meher, Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar, Additional Municipal Commissioners Dr R Z Siddiqui, Dr Ramnath Sonavane, Additional Deputy Commissioner Jayant Dandegaonkar, Chief Engineer Ulhas Debadwar, City Engineer Manoj Talewar, Medical Officer (sanitation) Dr Pradeep Dasarwar, Green Vigil Foundation’s Kaustubh Chatterjee, Maitee Parivar’s Sanjay Bhande, Chandu Pendke, Sanjay Nakhate, Kanak Resources’ Kamalesh Sharma, all the Assistant Engineers of ten zones, and NIT officials.
Among the arrangements being made by NMC include creation of artificial tanks. The artificial tanks will be placed at various water bodies where immersion of idols take place. Plastic artificial tanks will also be placed in almost all areas where different Mandals install Ganesh idols and for home idols. Similarly, large plastic drums will also be placed at all the immersion spots for collecting “Nirmalya” and other puja material. The NMC has appealed all the citizens and Mandals not to install Plastic of Paris idols as these idols create pollution pose threat to ecology. NMC will also deploy a fleet of vehicle at various immersion places for transporting the waste material accumulated during immersion. A network of CCTV cameras will be set up with the cooperation and coordination of NMC and police department. The Fire Brigade personnel should also gear up to deal with exigencies during the large scale immersion.
The Mayor Datke directed officials to make other arrangements such as parking arrangements for rush of vehicles being witnessed on immersion days, leveling of ground, cleanliness, and other necessary facilities.
Green Vigil Foundation’s Kaustubh Chatterjee, Maitee Parivar’s Sanjay Bhande, Chandu Pendke, Sanjay Nakhate also suggested some measures to ensure that the water bodies remain pollution free. Maximum of idols should be immersed in the artificial tanks, they stressed.
