Volunteers begin post-Ganesh Chaturthi cleanliness drive in Mumbai

Volunteers undertook a post-Ganesh Chaturthi cleanliness drive at the Juhu Beach here on Thursday.

The celebrations ended after ten days on Wednesday with immersion of idols.

College students and volunteers removed the debris and pollution caused by the immersion of idols.

Shruti Srivastav, a volunteer, said that due to people not using eco-friendly materials, the beaches and water bodies were getting polluted.

"We have been cleaning since 6:30 in the morning but despite that a lot of Idols have been buried in the sand. People keep talking about making eco friendly idols of Ganpati but they are never used and we face a lot of problems the next day," said Srivastav.

The immersion ceremony known as 'Visarjan' is regarded as the divine entities returning to their abodes after being the guests of devotees on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.

Rohit Pujari, another volunteer, said:"We had started this initiative, because it is necessary, as we always see in the news how much pollution is caused after Ganpati Visarjan."

"My only request is that people should use eco-friendly Ganpati idols," he added.

The annual festival of Ganesha Chaturthi usually falls between August and September.

Freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak re-introduced the festival with an aim to foster communal harmony and unity in the country during the height of British colonial rule.