Opt for eco-friendly Ganesh idols, Bangaloreans urged
By IANSWednesday, September 8, 2010
BANGALORE - With Ganesha Chaturthi festival just three days away, Bangalore civic authorities Wednesday appealed to the people to opt for eco-friendly idols of the elephant-headed god and use 22 designated lakes for their immersion.
Separate enclosures have been created in the 22 lakes for immersion of the idols, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike or Greater Bangalore City Corporation said in a statement.
The festival of Lord Ganesh falls Saturday and thousands of idols of various sizes are to be immersed across the city.
The civic authorities will also deploy mobile immersion facilities at various localities at designated times Saturday evening. Idols of less than three feet can be immersed at these facilities.
Bangalore boasted of about 260 small and big lakes in and around it till the 1960s.
But rapid urbanization and encroachment have taken a heavy toll and the city now has only about 60 lakes, according to the Lake Development Authority, an autonomous body set up by the government in 2002 to rejuvenate water bodies in Bangalore and other major towns of the state.
The civic authorities appealed to the people to remove flowers and others items used for pooja before immersing the idols.
