50 lord Ganesha idols recovered from Rohtak canal
Despite the ban, devotees in a considerable number immersed idols in BSB canal passing through Rohtak city during the Ganesha Mahotsav.
It came to light when activists of Suno Nahro Ki Pukar, a social outfit, recovered over 50 idols of lord Ganesha from the canal in the past two days. Later, all the idols were buried in earth near the canal while performing the same rituals that are performed at the time of immersing Ganesh idols in water.
“During Ganesha Mahotsav, the district administration had imposed a ban on immersing idols in the canals and fixed Gau Karan pond for the purposes but many devotees did not go there. They came to the BSB canal as usual and immersed idols in it. We tried a lot to convince them not to do so but they forcibly immersed the idols in the canal,” said Jasmer Singh, patron, Suno Nahri Ki Pukar.
He added they had to call the police twice keeping in view a large number of devotees coming to the canal for idol immersion. Then, the police managed to send them to Gau Karan pond for the purpose but many of them used the canal for idol immersion when neither their volunteers nor cops were present there, Jasmer said.
“Our volunteers have been cleaning the canal for the past two days and have already recovered over 50 Ganesha idols from it. Many more are likely to be recovered in coming days,” he added.
Other volunteers Deepak Chhara and Mukesh Nanakwal said before the beginning of Ganesha Mahotsav, they had written to the district administration to prevent devotees from immersing idols in canals as it led to contamination of the water. Taking note of it, the authorities issued the notice restricting the immersion of Ganesha idols in canals, they claimed.
Ajay Hooda, joint secretary of the outfit, said they had been ensuring cleanliness of the JLN and BSB canals for the past around three years by devoting more than three hours daily there.
“The canal water is supplied to houses for drinking purposes. Hence, we educate people about the ill-effects of dumping idols and other religious material in the canal by holding placards in hands and organising lectures and seminars in educational institutes,” he added.
