The mayor’s bungalow at Shivaji Park, Dadar, seems to be the most favourite place for devotees for eco-friendly Ganesh immersion. The residence, on Thursday, witnessed the maximum number of immersions of one-and-half-day Ganesh idols.
According to the BMC’s data, a total of 64,895 Ganesh idols were immersed at various locations in the city on Thursday. Of these, 64,680 idols were from households and 215 “sarvajanik” idols were from the mandals.
Almost 12 per cent or 7,518 idols were immersed in the artificial ponds built by the BMC and 1,080 idols immersed at the artificial pond set up at mayor’s bungalow alone. Artificial ponds at Hedgewar Maidan, Vile Parle West and Swapnanagari, Mulund (W) also received good response from devotees.
“We have offered several facilities at the artificial ponds and hope that more and more people will come forward to immerse Ganesh idols in these lakes,” said mayor Sunil Prabhu.
There is a significant rise in the immersions at artificial ponds as compared to last year. The BMC had reported 65,894 immersions on the first immersion day in 2011. Of these, 65,381 were idols from homes and 513 were sarvajanik.
This year, however, the civic body has set up artificial ponds at 24 places across the city. In total, there are 72 immersion spots in the city, 27 of which are beaches.
“Our efforts are finally bearing fruits as people have started realising the importance of environment conservation. The growing response to artificial ponds is an indication of this,” said Kishore Kshirsagar, deputy municipal commissioner.