NAVI MUMBAI: The commissioner of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), Rajesh Narvekar, has issued notices to all the civic engineers responsible for the Morbe Dam upkeep, after various BJP politicians had visited the dam site without any formal permission on Sunday, to perform Jal Puja since the dam waters had started overflowing on account of a good monsoon.
BJP leader Sanjeev Naik, who is the first mayor of NMMC, was seen performing the puja at Morbe dam along with others, and also throwing the nirmalaya of flowers and coconuts into the water.
While environmentalists have objected to the throwing of nirmalaya into the dam, the civic chief Narvekar told TOI: "No permissions were taken by the politicians who had entered the Morbe Dam on Sunday to do puja. Hence, I have issued notices to the civic engineers concerned.''
City based Congress leaders like Anil Kaushik and Ravindra Sawant, have also complained to NMMC.
Environmentalist B N Kumar of NatConnect Foundation said: "It is wrong to throw Nirmalaya into the dam. Even during Ganpati immersions, the nirmalaya is separated to avoid water pollution."
When TOI contacted Sanjeev Naik for his comment, his aide S Nitesh said: "During traditional rituals at waterbodies like Ganga river, devotees do put nirmalaya in the water out of faith.''
Morbe dam, which is located in Khalapur and wholly owned by the NMMC, is a major water source for Navi Mumbai and surrounding regions. Last year, it did not reach full water capacity due to lesser rainfall.
