The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed to Telangana authorities to permit immersion of Lord Ganesha idols made up of plaster of Paris (PoP) in Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad only for this year, reported Live Law.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana noted that this is a recurrent problem in Hyderabad city and despite giving several directions, the state government has not complied with the orders of the Telangana High Court prohibiting the immersion of idols and curb pollution there.
The apex court passed the order after taking note of the submission by the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that steps have been taken to minimise pollution in the lake, and idols are lifted by cranes soon after the immersion and transferred to solid waste disposal sites for disposal.
"In view of the submissions, we allow this year as last chance, to use this lake for immersion of idols," said the bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, while seeking an undertaking for the next year.
The Telangana High Court on September 13 had refused to modify its earlier order banning immersion of Ganesh idols made of plaster of Paris (PoP) in Hussain Sagar Lake and other such places in the city.
A division bench of acting Chief Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao and Justice T. Vinod Kumar made it clear that it cannot permit water pollution by allowing immersion of PoP idols.
"You created a situation of impossibility, now solve it. We cannot grant permission to people to pollute Hussain Sagar," the bench had said.
The court had also refused to allow immersion into Hussain Sagar from Tank Bund road, saying the huge amount of tax payers' money spent by the government to beautify the stretch will be wasted.
The review petition was filed by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner Lokesh Kumar.
The petitioner had mentioned that if the immersion was not allowed from Tank Bund, it may take up to six days for immersion of thousands of idols brought to the lake.
While refusing to modify its order, the High Court had stated that if the government doesn't like its order, it can challenge the same in the higher court.
(With inputs from Agencies)