During the upcoming Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, devotees will immerse their idols in 24 movable, prefabricated Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) ponds that will be constructed at various locations throughout the city. This will be a first for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). For the same reason, the civic body also decided to build 22 temporary dug ponds in the city. The Supreme Court's directive to the State government not to allow immersion idols made of plaster of paris (PoP) in Hussainsagar starting this year prompted the GHMC to make these decisions. Citizens and pandal organisers would be required by the city body to only submerge PoP idols in portable and artificial ponds.
The readymade ponds are being purchased from Mumbai, says a GHMC official. According to the official, each prefabricated water pond costs between 11 and 12 lakh rupees. The size of these ponds will be 30 metres by 10 metres with a depth of 1.35 to 150 metres. Idols up to four feet height can be immersed in these ponds.”Around 22 temporary excavated ponds will be dug up by the GHMC in places like LB Nagar (4 ponds), Charminar (5 ponds), Khairatabad (5 ponds), Secunderabad (3 ponds), Serilingampally (3 ponds), and Kukatpally (2). Soon, excavation work for makeshift ponds will begin. According to GHMC authorities, the idols submerged in these temporary ponds would occasionally be removed along with pooja supplies and replenished with new water. Ganesh Chaturthi this year will begin on August 31st.