Immersion is done in dead lakes so there is no pollution.

The Hindu: Telangana: Monday, September 21, 2015.

As the city celebrates the Ganesh festival with religious fervour and joy, Dr. Bhagvanth Rao, General Secretary of Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Committee, speaks to ASIF YAR KHAN about the management strategies that go into planning such a massive festival. The committee is instrumental in organising the mega event every year.

Tell us about the Ganesh festivities.

This is the 36th procession. The concept started in 1980 with just 1,500 idols and now, around a lakh idols are being installed. We have made it a grand affair with 50 lakh people participating directly in the centralised procession and a few crores watching it through different mediums like television, internet and mobile phones. It is another landmark achievement for the city. We try our best to make it a vibrant and memorable event.

How do you manage things?

There are 150 divisional committees which take care of coordination work at the grassroots level. Right from coordinating the festivities during the 11 days, civic problems, dealing with the police and the procession, the committed looks into all the issues.

What about the issue of water pollution?

See, it has been proved that there is no water pollution by immersing idols in the lake. It is just propaganda by a handful of organisations working under the influence of Western countries. Immersion is being done in dead lakes around the city, so where is the question of pollution? Moreover, we remove the idols within 48 hours of immersion.

What about installing eco-friendly idols?

We have left it to the devotees to decide. One thing is that the HMDA supplies only a few thousand clay idols and some NGOs arrange a few hundreds. But about one lakh idols are installed in the city. If the government is sincere, it should take up permanent steps like making eco-friendly colour available and training artisans.

Every year the committee complains of police interference?

Yes, the job of the police is to look into the law and order aspect. However, police officials are more enthusiastic about fixing the date and place of immersion for smaller idols. They should stay away from these things as people are already cooperating with them.

What about free power supply?

We have requested the government to extend free power supply to the Ganesh mandapams. It hardly costs a few lakhs. We obtained the data under the RTI Act on the power charges collected from the mandapam organisers and it was just Rs. 20 lakh. We feel that the Government can bear that amount.