In a move that would be a shot in the arm for the Dahisar river rejuvenation plan, BMC will be setting up an artificial immersion pond inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) for the first time ever, as an alternative to the immersion being carried out in the Dahisar river every year.
An artificial pond will be built near the play area opposite to the boating lake where immersion is carried out. This move comes after River March, a citizens' initiative working for river rejuvenation convinced BMC as well as SGNP officials.
Work to begin from Wednesday
"The crucial decision was taken during a joint meeting between the forest department, BMC as well as Police on Tuesday morning at SGNP where we emphasised on the need of an artificial pond for immersion as till date the immersion being carried out in the SGNP lake was creating lot of pollution and also affecting the water quality," said Vikram Chogle, BJP leader who is a part of River March movement and convened the meeting.
Ramakant Biradar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner, R/Central ward said that they will begin the work of construction of a nine feet deep artificial immersion pond from Wednesday. "Small idols including those of about four to five feet can be immersed in the artificial pond and we are hoping that we can shift a majority of the 3300 idols that are immersed every year to the artificial pond, which will be a major boost for the environment," he said.
Donate your idols for a cause
Not only BMC wants to divert the idols to artificial ponds but it also aims to encourage people to not immerse the idols at all.
"We will have a special counter set up at SGNP where devotees can donate their idols if they wish instead of immersing it. The idea is to give these idols to organisation working for poor people who can re-paint the idol and sell it again next year, which will not only help in reducing the number of idols being immersed but will also encourage the environment friendly concept of re-using," said Biradar.
Chogle added that they will now begin spreading awareness amongst people in the neighbourhood of Borivali about the artificial pond as well as donating their idols for good cause.
IMMERSION AT SGNP
Small idols: 3,000
Large idols: 300
GREEN APPROACH
- An artificial pond will be built near the play area opposite to the boating lake where immersion is carried out
- This move comes after River March, a citizens’ initiative working for river rejuvenation convinced BMC as well as SGNP officials
- Ramakant Biradar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner, R/Central ward, said that they will begin the work of construction of a nine-feet-deep artificial immersion pond from Wednesday. Small idols including those of about 4 to 5 feet can be immersed in the artificial pond and it is hoped that shifting a majority of the 3,300 idols that are immersed every year to the artificial pond, will be a good boost for the environment
