The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is working to create artificial ponds for Ganesh idol immersion. However, it is finding it difficult to reach its target because of the land shortage. Last year, the BMC planned to establish 300 man-made lakes across Mumbai, but only 194 of these lakes were built.
The demand for Ganesh immersion in artificial ponds has surged by 371 per cent over the past 11 years. This year, the BMC plans to build 204 artificial lakes across Mumbai. Additionally, there are 69 natural immersion spots available for devotees.
To make information about immersion sites more accessible, BMC has decided to list all artificial lakes on Google Maps. Devotees will also be able to access information about these lakes by scanning QR codes displayed outside the pandals.
The construction of an artificial lake costs the city over INR 5 lakh, including excavation expenses. The man-made lakes were first introduced in 2008. Earlier, the BMC planned to have one or two lakes in every ward. By 2019, there were 32 artificial lakes.
Last year, almost one-third of all idols were submerged in these lakes. In 2022, approximately 1.93 lakh idols were submerged in both natural and artificial lakes. This figure rose to around 2.06 lakh in 2023. Out of these, 76,000 idols were immersed in man-made lakes.
The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 led to a huge increase in the number of these lakes. During this period, the number of artificial lakes grew fivefold. As a result, the number of devotees using these lakes increased. Before the pandemic, around 20% of devotees used artificial lakes for immersion. This number rose to over 50% during the pandemic.
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