Bombay HC forces BMC to keep eco-friendly visarjan promise

After failing spectacularly to keep its promises about addressing environmental concerns and ignoring pleas to set up more artificial ponds for immersing Ganesh idols the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMCmdashbowing down to the Bombay High Courtmdashwill set up one more pond for devotees at Aarey Milk Colony for the final day of GaneshotsavBe it setting up artificial ponds or monitoring Plaster of Paris PoP idols or cracking down on singleuse plastic bags the BMC has repeatedly displayed a lack of alacrity The corporation has constantly turned a deaf ear to calls to address environmental concerns during large public festivalsIssues at AareyEnvironmentalists have lambasted the civic body saying it needs to be more proactive and environment friendly when it comes to Aarey Milk Colony where there are limited facilities for the last day of idol immersions The BMC had provided one artificial lake and six small vehiclemounted ponds on the spot but they proved inadequateDevotees at Chhota Kashmir in Aarey Milk Colony in Goregaon East on September 11 2021 PicAnurag AhireOn Monday the high court inquired if more artificial ponds could be set up in the colony for the immersion of idols Following this the BMC decided to provide one more water body at the site for Anant Chaturdashi which falls on Thursday Environmentalists and devotees said the civic body should have acted earlierThere are three natural lakes in the colony where immersions take place every year A large number of idols from Goregaon Jogeshwari East Andheri East and Malad East are immersed in large numbers in these water bodies A court order this year prohibited the immersion of Ganesh idols in the colonyrsquos natural lakesBJP leadersrsquo requestPrabhakar Shinde exgroup leader of the BJP in the BMC wrote a letter to the municipal commissioner requesting that more artificial ponds be provided He stated that last year 3431 Ganesh idols including 3105 household ones were immersed in the three natural ponds and seven artificial water bodies in the colony Out of these 697 domestic and 201 public idols were immersed on Anant Chaturdashi ldquoThis year only one artificial pond and six small mobile ponds are available This arrangement will not be enough Keeping this in mind it is necessary to construct as many artificial ponds as possible as per the courtrsquos directiverdquo said Shindelsquo300 ponds were plannedrsquoRajesh Akre assistant commissioner of P South ward said ldquoThere will be two artificial lakes near Aarey lake four mobile ponds at Aarey Road near the Western Express Highway and two mobile ponds at the picnic spotrdquoRamakant Biradar deputy municipal commissioner said the civic body had planned to provide more than 300 artificial ponds across the city ldquoBut there were issues related to the availability of land for the immersion spots Besides the decision was taken at the last moment But we increased the number of ponds from 164 last year to 200 this year We will definitely try to provide more spots next yearrdquo he saidNaresh Dahibaonkar of the Brihanmumbai Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti said ldquoThe number of artificial lakes should have been increased to make the festival ecofriendly We also demanded that the number of ponds be increased at a single spot that can accommodate two to three artificial water bodies We suggested creating huge ponds for the immersion of sarvajanik Ganesh idols If the BMC can keep the ponds round the year it will also help to reduce their costrdquoIndifference towards PoPEven in the case of PoP idols the civic body has been lethargic The BMC had made it mandatory this year to make household Ganesh idols with ecofriendly materials like clay and warned that it would initiate action against sellers who sell nonecofriendly household idols However six days into the festival no action has been taken in this regard so far The BMC is merely taking note of the numbers of PoP and ecofriendly idolsIn May 2020 the Central Pollution Control Board CPCB issued detailed guidelines banning PoP idols which are said to cause water pollution The BMC decided to completely ban PoP idols in 2021 after it received a request for an extension from Ganesh mandals This year the civic body was supposed to have started following the CPCB order It has also restricted the height of household idols which must be made from ecofriendly material to four feet The BMC also warned sellers that action would be taken as per CPCB guidelines if norms were flouted However a BMC official admitted that no such action is being taken Officials also claimed that it is difficult to enforce such rules in a city like Mumbai which is very vastldquoThere is ambiguity in a Supreme Court order that bans the immersion of PoP idols but not making them It should be amended Besides we requested the chief minister to hold a meeting in January to start the procedure early for creating ecofriendly idolsrdquo said DahibaonkarBiradar said officials are taking stock of the ecofriendly and PoP idols that are being immersed ldquoAlso we had to provide 350 metric tons of clay to sculptors Also we provide places for them to work Yes there was a delay in providing clay and places to make ecofriendly idols From next year we will provide them places six months prior to the festivalrdquo the deputy municipal commissioner saidEnvironmentalists speakEnvironmentalist D Stalin said ldquoThe BMC should start the procedure to provide ponds earlier The civic bodyrsquos arrangement seems enough for devotees as around 3500 idols have already been immersed in these water bodies and on Anant Chaturdashi big idols are immersed in natural spots But the civic body should have acted earlierrdquoDebi Goenka another environmentalist slammed the BMC for not taking enough action ldquoIt is a great pity that the BMC is not taking steps to protect our water bodies from pollution It is symptomatic of the total lack of concern for our environment by the BMCrdquo he saidAnother environmentalist Anand Pendharkar said ldquoThe BMC should properly plan how to implement the rules It should start convincing citizens six months before the festival PoP is not the only thing thatrsquos hazardous Artificial colours applied on clay idols contain substances that pose a threat to marine life The BMC should come up with a better plan from next yearrdquo