Nagpur: The eco-friendly Ganesh visarjan campaign in Nagpur is receiving increasing support from citizens, with more devotees opting for artificial immersion tanks instead of immersing idols directly in lakes and other water bodies.

The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has completely prohibited the immersion of Ganesh idols in the city’s lakes and water bodies. To provide an alternative for devotees, the civic body is setting up 447 artificial immersion tanks across Nagpur for the immersion of smaller idols.

The NMC has also deployed Visarjan Raths (immersion vehicles), which are being sent to residents’ homes whenever requested, enabling citizens to participate in the immersion process without visiting natural water bodies.

Several voluntary organisations are supporting the NMC’s efforts to promote environmentally friendly immersion practices. Among them, the Green Vigil Foundation has been assisting the civic body for the 16th consecutive year with its eco-friendly Ganesh immersion and Nirmalya collection campaign at the Air Force side of Futala Lake.

Surbhi Jaiswal, Team Lead of the Green Vigil Foundation, said there had been a noticeable change in the attitude of citizens towards eco-friendly immersion over the years.

“Earlier, people insisted on immersing their Ganesh idols directly in the lakes, and we had to spend considerable time convincing them to use alternative arrangements. People were also reluctant to hand over Nirmalya to us. Today, the situation has changed considerably. Most citizens voluntarily come forward to immerse their idols in artificial tanks and also hand over Nirmalya and other puja materials,” she said.

However, volunteers said the use of Plaster of Paris (POP) idols remains a concern. Shriya Jogey, a Green Vigil Foundation member deployed at Futala Lake, said POP idols continued to be sold and purchased despite the restrictions.

During the first six days of immersion, volunteers received 1,335 idols at the Futala Lake site, of which 95 were made of POP, she said.

Green Vigil Foundation members Kaustav Chatterjee, Surbhi Jaiswal, Mehul Kosurkar, Shriya Jogey, Bishnudeo Yadav, Pinaki Banik, Priya Yadav, Tushar Deshmukh and Parth Jumde, along with Hardik Agrawal, Anushka Gurve, Harsh Jora, Amey Shendre and Avanti Joshi and other members from REEF and Shri Ramdeobaba University, are participating in the campaign.

The volunteers are assisting with idol immersion and Nirmalya collection while encouraging citizens to adopt environmentally responsible practices during the Ganesh festival.