No immersion of PoP Ganesh idols in lakes
On July 21, 2022, a two-judge Telangana High Court panel led by Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice S Nanda made it clear that Ganesh idols made of PoP could only be immersed in baby ponds built by GHMC for the purpose and could not be done in Hussain Sagar or any other lakes throughout the twin cities. The panel was hearing a writ petition Om Prakash filed on behalf of the community of artists who believed their trade and industry of creating PoP idols was in danger.
The panel noted that there is no ban on producing and selling idols constructed of PoP, and the main concern was the type of water bodies that these idols would be submerged in. Prior to this, the panel issued a second directive to the Commissioner ordering him to stop large congregations of followers and make sure they wear masks.
Mamidi Venu Madhav filed a contempt lawsuit in order to safeguard lakes from water contamination. The panel had previously noted that, despite a previous Supreme Court directive, no government order had yet been issued regarding the immersion of Ganesha idols. Considering that submerging these idols in lakes would cause environmental damage and destroy the ecological integrity of the environment In order to reduce the cause of pollution, the panel instructed GHMC to make sure that such solid trash must be transported to the solid dump waste yard for recycling right away. A new hearing date of September 15 has been set for the subject.
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