Greens seek curbs on immersion of Ganesh idols in Aarey

Mumbai: As the city gears up for another Ganesh Chaturthi, environmentalists have pre-emptively sought to curb the immersion of idols in water bodies inside Aarey Colony, citing that not only does it pollute natural resources but can be detrimental to wildlife due to the loudspeakers present in the processions.

Aarey Colony is part of Sanjay Gandhi National Park’s (SGNP) extended eco-sensitive zone (ESZ). “Not only does the immersion of Ganesh idols pollute natural resources, the use of loudspeakers and sound systems by DJs in the ESZ can also be detrimental to wildlife and give impetus to conflict,” Stalin D, director of city-based NGO Vanashakti, said. He is also a leading figure in the ‘Save Aarey’ movement.

Stain wrote a letter regarding the issues to the environment and forest departments, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the CEO of Aarey Milk Colony.

“The entire (Aarey Milk Colony) area falls inside the ESZ, and all activities are regulated or prohibited. We are concerned about the pollution caused every year to the lakes/ponds/waterbodies inside the ESZ. The Chhota Kashmir Lake, the Picnic Point Lake, and the small pond behind the Picnic Point garden are all perennial natural water bodies inside the ESZ. During Ganeshotsav festival, hundreds of idols are brought in from all over the city and immersed inside these water bodies. The lakes are getting silted up, polluted by the plaster of Paris and the paints used in the idols. This is detrimental to the aquatic life in the water bodies,” he wrote.

Stalin told HT that it would be ecologically sound and in compliance with the law for the BMC to create and provide artificial tanks on the outskirts of Aarey Colony, which people can use to immerse Ganesh idols.

“Authorities need to take steps well in advance so that preparations can be made and the general population can be notified. The festivities should be conducted in a manner that does not harm the environment,” he added.

In December 2016, the union environment ministry announced the creation of an ESZ around the national park in the Mumbai and Thane districts. The ESZ, a protective buffer between the park and the city, varies in radius between 100 metres to four kilometres from the park’s boundaries. The area enclosed in the ESZ is 59.4 sq km – almost 60% of the 104 sq km national park – and all adverse activities – from real estate to quarrying to industries and the felling of trees – are prohibited. Only rainwater harvesting, organic farming, and use of renewable energy sources are permitted activities within the protected area.