Ghaziabad: Festival ends, leaves behind a littered river

Though ponds were dug for idol immersion on the occasion of Durga puja, the banks of Hindon were strewn with clothes and puja material

The Durga puja festivities came to an end on Friday after the idol immersion ceremony in the temporary ponds set up by the Ghaziabad district administration, at a safe distance from the Hindon.

The administration succeeded in preventing idol immersions in the river Hindon and the Upper Ganga Canal, the river banks were a mess on Friday. Municipal corporation officials said cleaning of the banks will be undertaken immediately. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Although the administration succeeded in preventing water bodies in the district from being polluted, massive amounts of puja and related material were left behind by devotees on the banks of the Hindon. This was despite strict instructions in this regard.

An HT team on Friday afternoon found the banks of Hindon littered with clothes, puja items and other materials. A part of the river flows towards Noida while the river joins the Hindon canal and moves towards Agra.

The district administration had dug ponds following directions by the Allahabad high court and the National Green Tribunal over prevention of pollution of river bodies.

“There has been a clear laxity on the part of the administration as they were not able to include all stakeholders in their efforts. It has also become a habit among residents to pollute water bodies. We cannot expect directions from authorities and courts each time to curb the habit of polluting water bodies,” said Vikrant Sharma, an environment activist.

The scene at the banks of river Hindon on Friday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

On the other hand, officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation said cleaning of the river banks will be undertaken immediately.

“Although we were able to avoid major pollution to water bodies, enforcement was lacking and this led to some people dumping material on the banks. However, we had also put up hoardings that offenders would be penalised. This will be addressed during the upcoming festival season. We will order the cleaning of the banks at the earliest,” the corporation’s city health officer Dr RK Yadav said.