On August 3, this newspaper ran a story ‘Provide artificial tanks at Aarey for visarjan’, shedding light on NGO Vanashakti’s efforts. With the Ganpati festival approaching, the NGO has appealed to the state environment department and other relevant bodies to prevent idol immersion in Aarey’s water bodies due to its location within the ESZ of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

To accommodate religious rituals, the NGO has requested the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to create artificial tanks on the outskirts of Aarey for people to use during visarjan.

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On August 17, MLA Ravindra Waikar wrote a letter to the Assistant Municipal Commissioner of BMC, Aarey CEO, and Senior Police Inspector of Aarey police station asking them to reconsider the decision taken by the administration to ban the immersion of idols in Aarey Milk Colony.

Talking to mid-day, an official from the Aarey CEO’s office said, “Our office has responded to the letter written by MLA Ravindra Waikar, in which he has requested us to allow the immersion of idols at Chhota Kashmir lake. In our response, we have stated that immersion cannot be allowed as the same is prohibited as per the Eco-Sensitive Zone notification. We would also like to make it clear that we do not have any intention to hurt the religious sentiments of anyone and we are just following the ESZ notification.”