HYDERABAD: The Ganesh immersions last month did lead to a spike in pollution levels in the Hussain Sagar Lake, show data shared by the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB) on Wednesday. However, the report is quick to add that these levels dropped back to normal soon afterwards, thanks to the heavy rainfall that the city received during those days.
“Due to heavy rainfall Hussain Sagar Lake received storm water from all the parts of the city. This resulted in dilution of pollutants thereby restoring the condition of the lake to normal after the immersion,” said J Sumati, environmental scientist with TSPCB, while reiterating the rise in chemical content in the water during idol immersion.
While the board did not share any specific data on these increased levels, its report admitted to the count of total dissolved solids (TDS) being high at all six locations where it was measured — two places around NTR Park, near Lumbini Park, Necklace Road, near Leepakshi Handicrafts and near the Buddha statue. The TDS, which indicates the level of harmful contaminants in water, had “increased drastically” at Necklace Road, the report added.
The chemical oxygen demand (COD indicates the level of pollution by organic matter) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD indicates level of oxygen in water; lower the purer) levels too had seen “minimum increase”, during and after immersion.
Incidentally, to protect the lake from further pollution along with all the lakes in Hyderabad, the Telangana high court had issued an order banning the immersion of Plaster-of-Paris (PoP) idols in the water body, right ahead of the festival. It even directed that the state to only use baby ponds already constructed by the GHMC for this purpose.
However, citing that the last minute ban would cause hardship to thousands of devotees, the state approached Supreme Court, asking it to allow PoP idol immersions for just this year. Eventually, the apex court green-lit the immersion of PoP idols, but only for the “one last time.”
