While the city was celebrating Ganesha habba with poojas, music and dancing, food and festivities and elaborate processions to the immersion tanks, BBMP staff and workers were hard at work to ensure the festivities ended smoothly.

Most devotees who came to immerse their Ganesha idols said, they deserve a pat on their back for their efforts.

The immersion tank at Ulsoor Lake recorded 1,08,645 immersions up to Wednesday evening, while the one at Sankey Tank recorded 90,000 immersions. At Sankey Tank, BBMP had 40 workers including swimmers and cleaners along with 15 BBMP staff on duty while at Ulsoor Lake, the BBMP had 22 workers and six members of their staff on the job.

BBMP officials said cleaning of the immersion tank took place on alternate days at Ulsoor Lake. BBMP workers armed with mosquito nets and cleaning tools fished out the flowers and debris out of the lake on a boat.

After 11 am, the water from the immersion tank is pumped out into the manhole close by, after which five feet of water from Ulsoor lake is pumped in for immersions the next day, explained a BBMP engineer.

While clay idols dissolve easily, those over 12 feet made of fibre glass and plaster of paris don't, he said. A crane was used to take the remains of the idols out the next morning in such cases.

Possibilities

Truck loads of solid waste has been sent to the dumping yard from Ulsoor Lake and containers with flowers and other pooja material was also disposed, he said. Desilting the immersion area in some areas has taken place already and will be done again a week from now.

An officer with the Lake Development Authority said regular change of water and early desilting is welcome.

Plaster of paris has a tendency to cake up, thereby making cleaning more difficult and expensive. There is also a possibility of the polluted water inside and outside the lake to reach the underground water and polluting it if left for over 15 days, he explained.