Picture in contrast: Kol ghats clean, pollution concern in dists
Times of India | 15 October 2024
Kolkata: More than 3,000 idols have been immersed in the city’s major ghats along the Hooghly river in the past two days.
Immersion ghats on Sunday saw a rush of idols. According to a Kolkata Municipal Corporation parks department official, of the 4,000 idols, including family pujas that are there in the city, around 2,000 idols were immersed on Sunday.
Statewide, around 25,000 idols have been immersed in the Ganga since Saturday.
The immersion ghats though were a picture in contrast with idols being removed from the water immediately after the immersion at most ghats in Kolkata while the process of retrieving the idols at ghats across the rest of the state lacked urgency and caused water pollution.
In Kolkata, KMC teams worked overtime to ensure that the idol structures did not land up in the river. But loads of such structures that were left at ghats upstream could be seen floating along the river, triggering concern among environmentalists.
The 25,000-plus idols that were immersed in the river beyond Kolkata left the river critically polluted because of paints containing heavy metals.
“The heavy metals thus easily enter our food chain,” said A K Das, principal scientist, Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute.
The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) had banned immersion in the Ganga and its tributaries. This is the reason why both KMC and WBPCB are careful not to pollute the river till the entire immersion is shifted to enclosed water bodies.
“The mechanism developed by the KMC can hardly be seen in Serampore, Chinsurah, Bansberia, Naihati, Kanchrapara, Kalyani. Hence, the efforts put in by KMC in Kolkata is largely undone by urban and rural local bodies upstream,” said Naba Dutta of Sabuj Mancha.
In Kolkata, idol structures were promptly removed from the Hooghly after the symbolic immersion using cranes. Thus, major immersion ghats like Baje Kadamtala (Babughat), Nimtala ghat, Judges ghat, Doighat (Kidderpore) remained clean despite 60% of idols being immersed at these ghats. The rest were immersed in ponds, especially in Behala, Tollygunge and Jadavpur neighbourhoods.
KMC sources said the major ghats and nearby water bodies accommodated around 1,000 idols on Saturday night.
In New Town, close to 450 idols were immersed at the NKDA-organised New Town immersion ghat since Saturday in a carnival-like atmosphere with puja committee members performing in front of puja revellers.
Adequate safety and security measures are being taken at the immersion ghats. On Tuesday, when over 100 immersions belonging to the carnival are scheduled at the Baje Kadamtala Ghat, there will be six DMG divers stationed on a special launch. Special forces from the DMG are deployed at Bagbazar Ghat, Baje Kadamtala Ghat, Gwalior Ghat, and Nimtala Ghat.