Bhubaneswar: In a bid to ensure zero pollution in rivers and water bodies in and around the Odisha capital, three scientific immersion ponds have been constructed here.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has constructed separate immersion ponds at Kuakhai bridge near Pandra, near Tankapani Road and near Lingipur adjacent to Daya Bridge.
Devotees can immerse idols here starting from Ganesh Puja, the first celebration of the Puja season. This will ensure minimal pollution to the water bodies and rivers.
According to City Engineer Debasundar Mohapatra, the pond sizes would be need-based i.e. for Ganesh Puja they would be of smaller sizes and later for Durga Puja, the sizes will be huge as there would be hundreds of pandals during Puja.
Till last year, the civic body used to construct temporary immersion ponds during Durga Puja but from this year, the ponds will cover all immersion activities like Ganesh Puja, Biswakarma Puja, Gajalaxmi Puja, Durga Puja, Kali Puja, up to Saraswati Puja in February next year.
While Division I of BMC has constructed an immersion pond near Pandra on the bank of Kuakhai river, Division-II has constructed immersion ponds near the bank of Kuakhai at Tankapani bridge and another one near Lingipur at Daya Bridge.
As per specifications and guidelines, the immersion ponds are made with a membrane insulated layer so that toxic water does not get mixed up after immersion.
After the layers are removed from the idols, the water is treated with chemicals like bleaching powder and then the water is pumped out so that it does not get mixed up with the nearby river water.
Senior Environmental Scientist of Odisha’s State Pollution Control Board, Dr Dillip Behera said, “This effort is a welcome step towards keeping the river water away from polluting elements as the artificial chemicals could add to the miseries of the people staying downstream.”
According to environmental experts, metal compounds like lead, cadmium, chromium and nickel are largely found in artificial colours and if idols in large numbers are immersed in the river water, they might result in carcinogenic or cancer causing toxicity in the water and affect people in the downstream.
Environmentalist Bijay Mishra said, “On the other hand, bio-degradable substances like straw, paper and flowers will decompose in the water and the process will deplete the dissolved oxygen in the water. The depletion of oxygen in the river water will affect the oxygen supply for aquatic animals and plants. The BMC’s effort will definitely help in the better upkeep of the quality of water in the rivers.”
