Water bodies were to be specified
Goddess Durga was given the adieu on Sunday, however, none seemed to have the concern about the crying need to protect water bodies that are left with the curse of pollutants after a blissful Dussehra.
The guidelines issued by the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) in the wake of the judgment of Principal bench of National Green Tribunal on idol immersion were implemented although half-heartedly. The JSPCB notices to care takers of all water bodies under the five Regional Offices was issued on September 26.
As per the orders of the Tribunal the concerned authority, Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) in Ranchi, has to earmark an area of water bodies for immersion of idols besides laying synthetic liner on the bed of such water bodies, ensuring that the insoluble remains of idols are removed and clay deposited at the bed of water bodies is removed and filled into the sanitary landfills. However, the arrangements made by the urban civic body of Ranchi misses few important component of the orders-synthetic liner and demarcated areas for idol immersion with the exception of few.
“We have sent the letter to the all Regional Offices to apprise the municipal body in their jurisdiction about the order and to ensure that the order is followed to the letter,” said Member Secretary of JSPCB, Mahendra Mahto.
The municipal body appears to be living in oblivion about the potential threat to ponds incidentally used for immersing idols which is evident by the missing mechanism to remove pollutants from the bed of the water bodies. A synthetic liner is specialized material used to prevent leaching of harmful contaminants. The liners are also an effective mechanism to control shrinkage of water bodies especially due to the fact that desiltation and dredging of ponds and lakes in Ranchi have never been done.
“We discussed that (laying synthetic liner) however it could not be reviewed. Yet, we have complied with the directive as far as possible,” said Senior PRO of RMC, Ramkrishna Kumar.
Nonetheless, the municipal body has fallen back to the age old method of manually cleaning the mess after immersion ceremony gets over. The municipal body has deputed men as a substitute of synthetic liner hence leaving the effectiveness of the manual method to anybody’s guess. Although few puja committees have completed the immersion ceremony RMC deputed men are still to swing in action at most of the places. “We have deputed men for cleaning water bodies. They will remove remnants of idols after immersion,” said the Senior PRO.
Meanwhile, traffic in the evening came to standstill as people bid adieu to the Goddess. Traffic routes were diverted at many points and the immersion procession was carried amid heavy security deployment.