Ganpati immersions spell doom for Kankaria lake

AHMEDABAD: Though devotees bid a farewell to Ganpati and prayed for an early come back, very few in the civic administration are in a festive mood.
A look at Amdavadis'' pride - Kankaria lake - will explain the furrows on the civic authorities'' forehead. Scores of Ganpati immersions in the Kankaria lake, have proved to be an environmental disaster.More so, as the lake was dredged just two years back to give it a fresh lease of life to it.
The lake, which is the sole permanent water body in the city, will find it difficult to absorb the huge amount of sludge and garbage generated due to immersions in the days to come.
A day after the immersions and festivities ebbed, sight of the half-drowned Ganesha idols, flowers and colours used, present a grim picture of the damage done to the lake environment. The situation turned from bad to worse, with less water this year in the lake due to scant rainfall in the catchment area.
In 2002, the lake collected water upto just four feet making the immersion of the idols difficult. Instead, pandal organisers turned them sideways to symbolically perform the immersion.
Frantic calls flowed into the Ahmedabad Fire Brigade control room in Danapith, till the wee hours on Saturday. The AFB personnel had to be called in, to make space for more immersions.
According to the environmental experts, idols'' immersion leads to the gradual melting of plaster of paris, which creates a lot of sludge on the banks. Subsequently, when the plaster of paris settles down to the bottom of the lake, it begins to obstruct the percolation of water, necessary to recharge the aquifers.
Gulal and other colours used during the immersion ceremony, also play havoc with the lake''s environ creating a thin film over the water. The film gradually reduces dissolved oxygen in the water. This prevents the growth of algae and other vegetation, considered to be vital for fishes in the lake.
Moreover, grass and other material used for propping the idols up, prove fatal for the birds that visit the lake to get their food from underwater. "Birds who dive into the water, get entangled in the remains of the idols, leading to their death," says R K Sahu, superintendent, Kamala Nehru Zoological Gardens, Ahmedabad. Sahu, who has been observing the lake for many years feels that it was due to such immersions, that the life span of the lake has reduced.
Though the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has started operations on a war-footing to clean up the lake and save it from further deterioration, the damage has already being done. "Unhindered immersions will eventually lead to the death of lake in a few years," predicts Sahu.
Interestingly, the civic body spent lakhs of rupees for deepening of the lake, by removing sedimentation from the lake-bed just two years back. But senior officials feel that the purpose of this exercise has been defeated, as the immersions continue to fill the lake bed with sludge.
"Initially it will be visible on the surface but within a few days everything will fade away," says D B Makwana, deputy municipal commissioner, south zone. He added that the AMC had tried to dissuade people from immersing idols in the Kankaria lake.
Makwana said, "There is ample water in the Sabarmati river this year. We requested them to divert the Ganpati immersion processions. But, somehow, this did not go down well with the masses."