Hyderabad: Dirty ponds await Lord Ganesha

The government issued orders not to set up pandals but there is no clarity on the immersion of small idols. Why has the government built 26 artificial ponds? The authorities should have foreseen the problem. There is no one from the civic body either to control the people or clean the place

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) which maintains artificial ponds during Ganesh Nimajjanam has left them in a state of total neglect. Its staff is conspicuous by their absence at the artificial baby ponds across the city.

People started immersing Ganesh idols and by evening a mountain of debris accumulated at the baby ponds.

Madhav Kumar, a resident of Cherlapally, said, "The government issued orders not to set up pandals but there is no clarity on the immersion of small idols. Why has the government built 26 artificial ponds?

The authorities should have foreseen the problem. There is no one from the civic body either to control the people or clean the place." Revathi Nair, a resident of ECIL, said that they got the artificial pond cleaned recently for an annual ritual that Malayalees observe.

People have been immersing Ganesh idols at the Cherlapally baby pond for the last few days and the debris is increasing but the GHMC staff is bot cleaning the pond. Superintendent Engineer, GHMC Narsing Rao said the 26 immersion ponds in GHMC limits are closed for immersion.

meanwhile, people staying close to the artificial ponds, are immersing idols, though with a heavy heart. Shravan Kumar, a resident of Mallepally says, "How does the government expect people to complete the immersion ritual?" He added, "The State Government is insensitive to people and their aspirations."