Now, bid adieu to Ganesha in a portable pool

GHMC has tied up with KinderSports to install tanks for idol immersion at 24 locations in the city

It is a small step for Ganesha immersion and a giant leap to save the water bodies in Hyderabad. As a first-of-its-kind large scale initiative for Ganesha nimajjanam , GHMC has tied up with Pune-based KinderSports LLP to install portable pools at 24 locations (see box) across the city. Made of industrial grade PVC, these 20x10 metres tanks mounted on an anti-rust steel structure can hold up to 4 lakh litres of water so that around 10- 15,000 Ganeshas of around 1.5 to 3 feet height can be immersed.

Hyderabad-born Nikhil Girish Laddha, founder of KinderSports hopes these portable tanks could promote environment-friendly immersion practices in the city. “The Tank Bund that we have seen since childhood will not be the same for the future generations if it is constantly polluted,” he says.

In the field of sports education, KinderSports has been introducing sports to the children of the rural and tribal areas for the last seven years. The company conceptualised these portable swimming tanks (15x5 metres) in 2016 to teach swimming to kids in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Goa. One such swimming project of theirs in Vijayawada caught the attention of GHMC officials in 2019. “They approached us again in December 2021 asking if we could create a bigger pool for Ganesha immersion. That was a unique idea to us as we were a sports company and not looking at that angle per se,” he recollects adding the officials revealed that Ganesha idols used in homes number around two to two and a half lakh; if those could be immersed in these pools, the toxic chemicals that kill marine life can be avoided.

The pools are not permanent structures and can be installed within a day’, water drained and taken off in a couple of days. On September 1, , around 10 idols - a mix of clay and PoP were immersed in the pools for the first time.

While the clay residue in the water can be used either to make moortis (idols) again or for gardening, the water is biodegradable and can be used to water plants. The team is doing a small prototype to see how PoP idols get dissolved in the chemical ammonia bi-carbonate. “The two by-products when this chemical is put in PoP is ammonia, a fertilizer and calcium carbonate (chalk). If this is successful, we can use the chemical from the next immersion onwards,” he adds.

In case of large scale immersion, the team will vacuum out the mud and replenish the water for 10 days. These portable tanks are free to use for residents.