It has been a long-standing tradition for the locals of Hyderabad to immerse their Lord Ganesha idols in Hussain Sagar, after the completion of the 10 day Ganesh Chaturthi. This year’s Ganesh Chaturthi is all set to begin on Friday and will end on September 19th, and the Telangana High Court has now passed orders prohibiting the immersion of idols made of harmful materials like Plaster of Paris, into the Hussain Sagar.
A bench consisting of acting Chief Justice M. S. Ramachandra Rao and Justice T. Vinod Kumar gave the orders on Tuesday and directed the government, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and the police department to strictly follow its orders. The bench gave these orders on a contempt petition filed by advocate Mamidi Venu Madhav for not implementing the court’s orders in the writ petition filed by him seeking a direction to restrain people from immersing idols made of plaster of Paris in the Hussain Sagar lake.
Furthermore, the HC directed the government and the concerned officials to make sure that the immersion takes place from anywhere else other than Tank Bund, and that huge vehicles do not disturb the traffic. They also asked the government to construct a rubber dam for the purpose of immersion, in the lake, and to clear out the debris later. All Covid19 protocols have been ordered to be implemented, and no loudspeakers are allowed after 10 PM.