The Bombay High Court directed the monitoring committee of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) to decide whether one artificial pond at Aarey Colony would be enough for immersion of Ganpati idols and said the endeavour is to not hurt anybody's religious feelings.
According to a division bench consisting of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor, the appropriate arrangements will be made if the committee determines that further artificial ponds are necessary.
All these are matters to be considered by experts. What would suffice whether it is one artificial pond or six or a truck-mounted tank or 10 is up to the monitoring committee, the court said. The endeavour is to not hurt anybody's religious feelings. We will ask the committee to consider and take an appropriate decision. If one pond is adequate, then fine, if not, then we are only saying that arrangements can be made, CJ Upadhyaya said.
A Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader had asked the court to grant him permission to take a dip in one of the lakes in Aarey Colony. This year, the CEO of Aarey Colony had rejected authorization for lake immersion. Anil Singh, the petitioner's attorney, informed the bench on Monday that the monitoring committee had met and agreed to build a man-made pond inside Aarey, where immersions have been taking place since last Wednesday.
BMC has also provided six truck-mounted tanks for immersion, senior counsel Milind Sathe, appearing for the civic body, informed the court. However, one pond is not enough considering the number of idols being brought for immersion. Last year, apart from permission to immerse in lakes, seven artificial ponds were set up. We are not seeking permission to immerse in lakes now, but are only seeking additional artificial ponds, Singh said.