Over 2 lakh Ganesh idols have been immersed in notified lakes and mobile tankers deployed by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) so far. The civic body has put the figure at 2,05,702 idols as of Thursday.
BBMP data shared on Friday shows that 1.91 lakh were earthen idols and 13,733 were made of Plaster of Paris (POP), despite a ban on such idols.
For this year’s festival, the BBMP had created artificial tanks at 35 lakes in the city and 150 mobile tanks for the immersion of idols, across all eight zones and BBMP wards.
The BBMP officials said that the numbers may go up in the coming days, as many pandals have not yet immersed the idols. “No untoward incident was reported during the immersion,” the official added.
Over the past two years, the immersion load at the lakes had been relatively low, but the civic body is expecting a return to pre-pandemic levels this year.
The BBMP had launched a crackdown on the use of POP idols to minimise the environmental impact of Ganesh Chaturthi, along with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board.
