Visakhapatnam: The ongoing Ganesh idol immersion is adding to the garbage woes at the seashore in the city. The beaches are littered with broken idol parts, flowers, coconuts, non-degradable waste, etc. While several organisers of Ganesh pandals are observing 11 days of festivities before immersing the idols, some have started bidding farewell to Lord Ganesh from the first day itself, piling up garbage along beaches.
Even though the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) staff have been collecting the religious paraphernalia and allowing the pandal organisers to immerse the idols alone in the sea, some organisers were still throwing everything into the beaches. When this correspondent visited various immersion points of the city, littering at the seaside was evident with the idols and other materials being washed away to the shore.
The piling up of garbage was heavy in the interior places like Pedajalaripeta, fishing harbour, Kailasagiri ropeway, etc. Keeping the upcoming BRICS Urbanisation Forum Meet in view, the district officials restricted the stretch from Coastal Battery to Kailasagiri from September 12 to Sep 16 for immersion of the idols. According to a GVMC sanitary employee, it has been a tough time for the GVMC workers to collect the waste on a continuous basis to keep the beaches in a good condition.
