By Express News Service HYDERABAD: At a time when cities like Ahmedabad have decided to go eco-friendly on Ganesh Chathurthi, deciding not to immerse Ganesh idols in water bodies to prevent contamination, the district authorities of Hyderabad are once again opting for the traditional way. The authorities are busy with the preparations for the nine-day celebrations, including the Ganesha Shobha Yatra when the idols would be immersed in the lakes. Recently, TRS working president KT Rama Rao in a tweet had pitched the idea of emulating Ahmedabad by placing the idols on the banks of water bodies instead of immersing them. He had appealed to the government authorities to look into the initiative. Though his tweet had garnered positive responses from the GHMC chief as well as Hyderabadis in general, with some people even asking Rao to implement the idea across the State, the district officials are going ahead with the annual tradition of immersion. In a Ganesh Chathurthi prerequisites assessment meeting held at the Rangareddy district collectorate, the officials concerned from Revenue, Electricity, Medical, R&B, RWSS, Fisheries, Fire, and Police Departments were briefed on how to ensure a safe and prosperous immersion ceremony. Rangareddy District Collector Lokesh Kumar DS instructed the officials to address the grievances of the Utsav Committees. When contacted, a senior official, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “This is a sensitive issue. If we ask people to stop the immersion, the Ganesh Utsav Committees would allege that authorities are making it an issue only for Hindu festivals. Unless the government makes it a policy, we cannot promote the idea. However, we would appeal to the devotees to use eco-friendly Ganesh idols.” Incidentally, agreeing to the request of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Ahmedabad residents had decided to keep Sabarmati clean by not immersing idols of goddess Dasha Maa in the river.

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