The hurdles for immersion of Ganesh idols in Hussainsagar have been cleared on Thursday with the Supreme Court giving a green signal to an appeal made by the Telangana government keeping in view the sentiments of the devotees.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, gave the orders after hearing an urgent plea by the Commissioner of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
The GHMC moved the Supreme Court seeking stay on a September 9 order of the Telangana High Court banning the immersion of Ganesha idols made of plaster-of-Paris (PoP) in the Hussainsagar lake in the city.
While giving the approval for immersion of Ganesh idols in Hussainsagar only for this year, the chief justice expressed unhappiness over the state government for not taking adequate measures well in advance.
“I am not happy with the state. We will direct the state to give undertaking and direct implementation of all directions of HC from next year.” He said.
He wondered why the state government had not taken any steps in the past, despite the high court passing as many as 12 orders which were not implemented.
“The tank is getting polluted. The government is spending lakhs of rupees for beautification, but it is not yielding results,” the bench said.
He said the court would allow immersion in Hussainsagar for this year since lakhs of people would participate.
“We will give a last chance to the state government. We shall ask the state to file an affidavit that it would not be repeated from next year,” Justice Ramana said.
He also directed the GHMC to ensure that the immersed idols be removed within an hour, so that the lake does not get polluted.
Last week, the High Court had passed the order to prevent the pollution caused to the major water body in the city, especially from synthetic paints on the idols.
The GHMC said arrangements for the celebration were already well under way and the GHMC had taken precautions, including positioning cranes to pull out the idols from the lake within hours of their immersion.
The local body sought an exemption from the High Court’s order for this year’s immersion celebrations. It said the High Court order would be fully complied with from next year.
