Hooghly ghats south of Howrah bridge cleaner than those in north
Times of India | 17 October 2024TOI observed that while several ghats in central Kolkata were thoroughly cleaned, others in the northern part of the city showed less progress.Meanwhile, Hooghly’s pollution reached concerning levels, with remnants of idol structures found floating downstream, raising questions about the effectiveness of immersion practices upstream.
Over the past four days, more than 5,000 puja organizers and households immersed around 10,000 idols in the Hooghly and in designated tanks across Kolkata. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) undertook the challenging task of managing these immersions, ensuring that the ‘kathamo’ (idol structure) was retrieved promptly after the idols were briefly dipped in the river.
On Wednesday, the designated immersion ghats presented a largely clean appearance. Most southern ghats were cleared of debris, and bio-degradable and non-biodegradable puja wastes were segregated efficiently. “We are grateful to KMC for managing the immersion process with minimal impact on the river,” said Saswata Basu, general secretary of the Forum for Durgotsav, the umbrella organization for Durga Puja committees in the city.
However, the situation was different in areas managed by other urban local bodies (ULBs) upstream of Kolkata. “Nearly one lakh idols were immersed in the river, and most ULBs outside the Kolkata metropolitan area simply left the idols in the river without retrieving the structures,” said Somendra Mohan Ghosh, a green activist. “This practice causes irreversible pollution. We need to adopt practices similar to Mumbai’s Ganesh Mahotsav, where many idols are jet-sprayed to dissolve them on-site.”
A study conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board in the early 1990’s found that around 15,000 idols were immersed in the Hooghly, releasing significant amount of toxic substances like varnish, garjan oil, and heavy metals, including manganese, lead, mercury, and chromium, into the water. However, a large number of idols were found floating down from upstream undoing the efforts of KMC.
“This showed that there is a rampant violation of the National Mission for Clean Ganga directives. Thus, the KMC initiative remained an isolated good practice, not being replicated by any of the ULBs and RLBs,” said Naba Datta of Sabuj Mancha. The rising pollution levels in the Hooghly underscore the need for stricter regulations and innovative solutions to reduce the environmental impact of future idol immersions.
