On the flip side, they are not being paid. Nagesh, an expert swimmer, said he has been assisting the public in immersing idols in Sankey Tank for the last four years. “We are not assured of payment. We serve the public in the name of God and accept whatever the public give,” he said.
Swaminathan, another volunteer, said: “We don’t demand money from the public. We just accept whatever they give. On first and third days, thousands of idols were immersed and we made good money. On other days, public turnout is poor and so are returns.”
Johnny, another swimmer, said the Palike has not requested any of the volunteers formally to assist the public. “We’re coming here as we’ve been doing it for several years. We will continue to assist the public whether the Palike pays us or not,” he said.
Poor turnout
The festive mood and bustling crowds were missing at Ulsoor lake on Tuesday evening.
For BBMP workers, it was business as usual, cleaning the tank and keeping surroundings clean. Being a Tuesday and the fourth day, very few people came to the tank to immerse idols. Only 250 idols were immersed in Ulsoor Tank since morning and 30 idols in Sankey Tank.
BAN ON LIQUOR SHOPS
The City police N Achuta Rao has ordered the closure of all liquor shops on Wednesday, 19 September from 6 am to 10 pm in Frazer Town, Bharathinagar, D J Halli, K G Halli limits due to the procession of Gowri-Ganesha idols and its immersion according to a release from the commissioner’s office.