HYDRAA Bars Ganesh Immersion in Rejuvenated Hyderabad Lakes

The Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) has barred Ganesh idol immersions in newly rejuvenated waterbodies across Hyderabad, including Kapra Lake, sparking an administrative standoff with the Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi. During a Ganesh immersion preparedness meeting, HYDRAA Commissioner AV Ranganath instructed local festival committees to avoid the restored lake to prevent environmental damage and protect public restoration investments.

Ranganath directed organisers to utilise alternative facilities, including artificial ponds constructed by civic bodies. He warned that decades of sewage inflows had previously turned Kapra Lake into a highly polluted cesspool. While the Telangana government spent crores of rupees to restore the waterbody, Ranganath stated that permitting mass immersions would immediately re-pollute the ecosystem and render the restoration expenditure wasteful.

The policy directly affects several newly restored lakes throughout Greater Hyderabad. These include Bathukammakunta in Amberpet, Bum-Rukn-ud-Daula in Shivrampally, Nalla Cheruvu in Kukatpally, Sunnam Cheruvu and Thammidi Kunta in Madhapur, and Pedda Cheruvu in Uppal.

Tensions over the ban escalated during an immersion arrangements review meeting chaired by Hyderabad in-charge Minister Ponnam Prabhakar. Local organisers and Resident Welfare Associations pushed back against the sudden directives, pointing out that communities have used these lakes for traditional immersion rituals for more than six decades without regulatory hurdles.

HYDRAA officials defended the restrictions, stating that the agency plans to convert the revived waterbodies into family-friendly tourist locations featuring beautification projects and children's amenities funded by public money. Agency sources noted that allowing Plaster of Paris, chemical paints, and immersion debris into the newly cleaned basins would undermine these public investments.

However, the Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi has refused to accept the ban. Samithi founder-member Karodimal maintained that the committee intends to conduct immersions in the HYDRAA-revived lakes as usual. He argued that the organisation has conducted the rituals for decades without issues and contended that there is no evidence demonstrating that traditional immersions cause permanent damage to the lakes.