After Ganesha immersion, now pray once more for water (The Hindu 13 September 2011)

COST OF WORSHIP: Devotees immersing an idol of Lord Ganesha in the Yamuna on the last day of Ganesha Chaturthi in Delhi. Photo: S. Subramanium
Immersed idols and other pollutants block filters of two water treatment plants
A day after idols of Lord Ganesha were immersed in the Yamuna, water production at two of the Capital's water treatment plants had to be scaled down on account of pollutants floating in the waters.
According to Delhi Jal Board officials, water production at the Wazirabad and Chandrawal water treatment plants was scaled down by 10-12 million gallons a day on Monday on account of heavy pollutants in the river water.
“After the immersion of idols and flowers on Sunday, the level of impurities in the water rose considerably. We had to lower the production of water at both the plants and depute extra forces to clean up the choked filters,” said a senior DJB official.
Water production is expected to resume full capacity in the next 48 hours. “As of now about 20 lakh consumers are going to be affected by the dip in production, but we are hopeful production will be normalised by Wednesday,” said the official.
Separate enclosures for immersion needed
“Immersion of idols, flowers and other material of religious significance leads to pollution and a lot of these things block the filters of the water treatment plants. Because the quantity of pollutants is so high, we have no option but to stop or scale down production as is the case,” he added.
Non-government organisations that are campaigning for the revival of the Yamuna have been fighting for establishment of separate enclosures for immersion of idols and other religious rituals. “There was also a High Court order that said 13 enclosures should be built across the city for immersion of idols and other religious material, but so far the task remains incomplete,” said Vinod Jain of NGO Tapas, that filed a petition in the Court for preventing the immersion of idols and such in the Yamuna.
Among the areas that will face a shortfall of water supply on account of the recent pollution are North Delhi, North-West Delhi, parts of West Delhi, Central Delhi, parts of South Delhi, the NDMC area and the Cantonment Board.