Telangana HC says no to immersion of PoP Ganesh idols in Hussainsagar Lake, water bodies; hundreds stage protest

Hours after the division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice N V Shravan Kumar passed the judgment directing the state to ensure no PoP idols are immersed in Hussainsagar or any other water body, hundreds of people sat on a sudden protest at Tank Bund Road adjoining Hussainsagar Lake and blocked traffic for an hour. As the protest caused a major traffic jam on all roads leading to Tank Bund, the police forcefully evicted them.

The protesters decried injustice against Ganesh devotees by the state government and the high court for the latest order. “We have been immersing idols here for many years. There were no such restrictions till now and with two days to go, how can authorities stop us from idol immersion in Hussainsagar? This is nothing but playing with the sentiments of devotees,” one of the protesters said. They demanded the state’s intervention in convincing the high court to allow immersion of idols in the lake as in previous years.

The Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi (BGUS), the umbrella organisation coordinating with lakhs of Ganesh pandals, has distanced itself from the protest. BGUS general secretary Bhagawant Rao said there was no restriction on the immersion of idols and recalled that the same order was in force last year as well. “Immersion of idols is our right. The idols have to be immersed according to the guidelines set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and there is no restriction on immersion. It is the government’s responsibility to make arrangements for the immersion of idols. So we do not have any problems here,” Rao told indianexpress.com, adding, “We do not know who staged the protest at Tank Bund”.

The protesters decried injustice against Ganesh devotees by the state government and the high court for the latest order.

According to Rao, there is no restriction on the immersion of PoP idols as well. “Those idols can be immersed in artificial water tanks that the government has arranged.” He said due to awareness created around eco-friendly celebrations, a lot of people have already shifted to the installation of clay idols. More than 50,000 idols are ready for immersion on the final day, he added, without mentioning how many of them are made of clay as suggested. This year, the Khairatabad Ganesh Utsav Samithi has installed a 63-foot-tall Ganesh idol made of clay.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Zone) M Venkateshwarlu said that the high court order is being strictly implemented and no idol made of PoP will be allowed to be immersed in the Hussainsagar Lake. “These pandal organisers are asking how it is fair if such instructions are given on the eve of immersion. We are talking to them. There are so many artificial water tanks created for immersion purposes. We will direct such idols to these locations,” the DCP told indianexpress.com.

On Monday, the division bench of the high court instructed the Hyderabad Police Commissioner C V Anand to “meticulously” follow the direction and ensure that PoP idols are immersed only in the artificial ponds created by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and sought a compliance report from the special government pleader (SLP) in three weeks.

The court was hearing a petition by Telangana Ganesh Murtikalakar Welfare Association which challenged the ban on PoP idols’ making and their immersion as it affected their livelihood. The court underlined that the state was bound by the undertaking it submitted before the Supreme Court in 2021 about taking sufficient measures to prevent immersion in the Hussainsagar Lake. The Telangana High Court in its July 2022 judgment had ordered that immersion of PoP idols in Tank Bund is prohibited, starting this year, while clay idols will be allowed immersion.