NASHIK: The new ‘Tank on Wheels’ initiative of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) for Ganapati idol immersions has received an overwhelming response. The civic authorities even had to turn down several requests due to infrastructure unavailability.
“We came up with the ‘Tank on Wheels’ concept to ensure that people bid adieu to Ganpati Bappa in a very safe environment — especially given the ongoing pandemic. As a part of the initiative, a truck, with a water tank on it, will go to the big residential complexes and help people perform the rituals in safety,” said NMC commissioner Kailash Jadhav.
The commissioner said the concept launched on an experimental basis has received very good response from residents.
The civic body has appealed to the residential complexes — with more than 50 homes — to opt for the Tank on Wheels. The truck will have a water tank and a music system. It would go to the housing societies and spend one-two hours there. Residents will be able to immerse their idols in the tank. Idols would also be collected for further processing by the corporation.
Dr Avesh Palod, who is in charge of executing the concept, said people are becoming more responsible in terms of celebrations during the pandemic. Residents have also been very eager to accept the suggestions in controlling the spread of the viral infection.
“We have one vehicle for each of the six divisions. Each vehicle can cover at most six societies in a day. However, we had more than 15 requests from the Nashik Road division alone. We were forced to say ‘Sorry for the inconvenience’ to some of the housing societies we were unable to service,” Dr Palod said.
The NMC already has 31 bookings across the six divisions.
“It is an interesting concept. We have a housing society with over 900 flats. Of them, more than 300 households have Ganesh idols. Thanks to the ‘Tank on Wheels’, about 1,200 people from the society will not have to go to the ghats or other crowded places to immerse the idols. This will help stop the spread of the infection. We are doing our bit,” said Subhash Shirole, of Parksyde Homes in Nashik city.
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