Nagpur: Crores are being spent on restoring the Futala Musical Fountain, but just metres away, heaps of nirmalya and other puja offerings have been dumped and small idols discarded along the lake’s banks near Amravati Road.With artificial immersion tanks overflowing, barricades breached and sanitation personnel nowhere in sight, the aftermath of idol immersion has raised questions over civic arrangements at one of Nagpur’s prominent tourist attractions.Environmentalists and residents alleged that devotees opened a barricaded gate to immerse idols and puja materials directly into Futala Lake, defeating efforts to prevent pollution of the water body. The two artificial immersion tanks placed along the stretch by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) reportedly were overflowing with offerings.As per an eyewitness, no NMC sanitation personnel or workers were present at the location during checks at 6:30 pm and again at 10 pm. “The absence of staff meant that accumulated offerings remained uncleared, while devotees continued to struggle with inadequate immersion arrangements,” one of the eyewitnesses said.Environmentalist Kaustav Chatterjee, founder of Green Vigil Foundation, questioned why the precautions taken during Ganesh Visarjan were missing during Devi Visarjan. He pointed out that unlike during Ganeshotsav, the artificial tanks were not cleaned regularly, allowing nirmalya and other materials to accumulate. “At a time when Nagpur is facing a water crisis and water levels in our reservoirs are significantly low, protecting our water bodies should be a top priority for all stakeholders,” Chatterjee said.Residents, too, expressed frustration over the lack of maintenance. Kamlesh Gupta questioned the purpose of installing artificial tanks without arranging for their regular cleaning. “The entire place looks filthy now. Where are devotees supposed to perform visarjan in such conditions? The condition of the lakefront looks terrible,” Gupta said.TOI tried reaching out to NMC officials, but a response was awaited until the time of going to press.
