Eco-friendly endeavour The remarkable journey of artificial tanks from 6 to 419

 

 

Habit is a very strong force in resisting change even where the argument for behavioural change is compelling. Instead of changing the people, just change the environment in which they act. Make it easier for them to adopt positive practices that benefit masses. The same practice was adopted by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), which helped the local body to defeat the ‘habit’ of Nagpurians to pollute water bodies during festival season and compelled them to accept the change to immerse Ganesh idols in artificial tanks. When the administration and people both work together to effect a change in the society, Ganesh Visarjan is a perfect example of this co-ordination. For the sake of environment, the then Mayor of Nagpur Prof Anil Sole initiated the innovation of idol immersion in artificial tanks, which was wholeheartedly adopted by Nagpurians in 2012. The journey started with half-a-dozen such artificial tanks in 2012 and it reached 419 tanks in 2025 -- covering all 10 zones of the city -- with full support of the citizens.

 

The success of the initiative is not just limited to the second capital, but also adopted by other cities of Maharashtra and in the country in last 13 years. “Immersion of idols during Ganesh festival and Navratri in city lakes was an annual practice a decade ago. As a Mayor of this city, I was concerned about pollution of water bodies. However, the idea of visarjan of idols in artificial tanks came while discussing this with a local NGO Green Vigil Foundation,” Prof Anil Sole, former MLC and former Mayor told ‘The Hitavada’. “I was concerned about the depleting condition of city lakes during my tenure. Mainly, the use of Plaster of Paris (PoP) idols was causing major damage to the lakes,” said Sole. “Good things start from your own home”. With this belief, I asked the then Municipal Commissioner Shyam Wardhane to buy half-a-dozen artificial tanks from my Mayor’s Fund. It cost Rs 36,000 per tank. Me and my family were the first who immersed our own eco-friendly Ganesh idol in an artificial tank, which was appreciated by many in 2012,” said Prof Sole.

 

“The idea of eco-friendly Ganesh immersion was liked by all corporators of the city. Within three days, we purchased 57 more such tanks from Corporator’s Fund,” he added. “Thanks to the people of Nagpur, who showed their concern towards our water bodies and they adopted this change in no time. Today, this campaign has turned into a spirit of Nagpurians and each and every idol during the festival is immersed only in artificial tanks,” acclaimed the former Mayor. “After my tenure, former Mayor of the city and present MLA Pravin Datke also continued the campaign and he initiated barricading city lakes to apply complete brake on idol immersion in water bodies,” he added. “We joined NMC’s eco-friendly Ganpati Visarjan in 2010, when devotees were not even ready to hand over nirmalya. Maximum number of idols were immersed in lakes, but now, after 15 years, not a single idol is immersed in lakes,” claimed Kaustav Chatterjee, Founder, Green Vigil Foundation (GVF) and Ambassador for NMC of Swachh Bharat Mission. Previously, GVF used to conduct water quality test of city lakes before and after Ganesh Festival every year. After banning idol immersion in lakes in 2019, the NGO stopped this study. “Normally, a healthy lake has Dissolved Oxygen (DO) level of 6 mg/l, but, Nagpur lakes do not have any source of artificial aeration. Atmospheric diffusion is the only source of DO in lakes. Thus, the DO levels vary between 4.5 to 5 mg/l. But, during our lake water monitoring study, the DO level was reported as low as 2.5-3 mg/l. DO dropping below 2 mg/l is highly detrimental to aquatic life,” said Chatterjee.

 

 For Nagpurians, ‘Change Achha Hai’  Changing people’s mindset was the biggest challenge for the local body. However, NMC made it easier for citizens by providing artificial tanks very close to their homes, which helped them to adopt this positive practice that benefited masses. “Initially, many people raised questions over the change as it was directly challenging the belief. Even I also did. But, with passage of time, it was accepted by all,” said Adv Rajeev Pande, a resident of Ayodhya Nagar. “Visarjan in artificial tanks is a good decision by NMC as it helped to avoid pollution in city lakes during festival season,” said Ashutosh Bhange, a resident of Pratap Nagar. “Barricading all lakes in the city is a good step by NMC and as a replacement, the civic body is installing hundreds of artificial tanks every year is also praise-worthy,” said Seema Badhe.