Huge processions with gigantic Ganesh idols making way to the Tank Bund might be a thing of past after the Telangana High Court today banned the immersion of Ganesh idols made of plaster of paris in the Hussain Sagar Lake and ruled that Tank Bund should be kept out of bounds entirely from immersion of any kind of idols in a bid to reduce further pollution of the eco friendly lake.

The court also said that the devotees should be encouraged to reduce the height of the idols, use eco friendly material as well as immerse them in a bucket of water at their own homes. It also directed the authorities to ensure COVID-19 protocols are followed during the ten day long festival. Although clay Ganesh idols are popular for pujas at individual homes, big puja organisers prefer colourful idols made of PoP and synthetic colours to draw crowds.

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Ganesh puja will be held tomorrow across the state, both in individual homes as well as in public places and the immersion will take place on 19 September. Every year on the day of immersion Hyderabadis are greeted by long processions along with big or small idols and accompanied by loud music while all roads leading to Tank Bund are choc-a-bloc with traffic. Most of the idols including the famous Balanagar or Khairtabad Ganesh are immersed at Tank Bund side of the Hussain Sagar Lake. However, this time the High Court has directed the authorities to encourage organisers from far off places to immerse the idols locally and to ban PoP idols from Hussain Sagar so the chief attractions of the immersion day would be missing.

In a reprieve to the badly polluted iconic lake between Hyderabad and Secunderabad the court has ordered that instead of Tank Bund immersion can take place at Sanjeevaiah Park Road or PV Marg and Necklace Road. It said inflatable rubber dam walls can be used to confine the immersion to a limited area and then clear the debris instead of using the entire lake for immersion.

A bench of acting Chief Justice MS Ramachandra Rao and Justice T Vinod Kumar pronounced the orders on a contempt petition filed by an advocate Mamidi Venu Madhav on immersion of PoP idols in the Hussain Sagar Lake.

Yesterday, the court had hauled up the state government and wondered if the state Pollution Control Board was a “toothless tiger” and dismissed the state counsel’s argument that PoP idols do not pose any problem pointing out that the Central Pollution Control Board has banned them.

The court also directed that the Covid protocols must be followed and online streaming and darshans should be encouraged. It also restricted the use of loudspeakers after 10 pm.