Kolkata: Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari’s announcement barring the use of cranes during Durga Puja idol immersion has prompted the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), which oversees immersion in the city, to explore alternatives that may include dissolving idols in situ with water jets or deploying workers to push them to the riverbank.On Monday, Adhikari said that the govt “will depart from the way idols were immersed by using cranes. We will uphold the sacredness of Maa Durga’s idol,” he said at the meeting with Durga Puja organisers at the Milan Mela ground.Officials said they must now explore newer ways of immersion. Cranes helped pull up the idols, many of which weigh several hundred kilos, from water. The process was fast and ensured that the idol did not remain immersed in water for long. “We have been dependant on cranes to pick up idols for about three decades,” said a KMC official.An idol maker in Kumartuli said that majority of the sculpted idols weight around 14 tonnes and is about 8ft tall. Taller idols could weigh a couple of tonnes more, he said.The paint used on idols contains lead which can be harmful for water bodies. It causes irreparable damage by polluting the water with grease, heavy metals and non-biodegradable materials, endangering aquatic life, said an environment activist.Immersion was arranged in more than 15 ghats along the Hooghly and several other ponds across Kolkata till last year. Four cranes would be in use at the Baje Kadamtala Ghat, where the maximum number of immersions took place. Two cranes used to be deployed at Nimtala Ghat.A KMC official said some of the alternatives he could think of were using water jets to dissolve the idol. A couple of Durga Puja committees in the city have taken this route earlier, but primarily on an experimental basis. Besides, this kind of immersion also requires a huge volume of water.The other option could be deploying men on the river to push the idol into the riverbank after immersion. “This could be a risky option as the safety of the men who will be standing in the river will be in question. We must brainstorm and see what other options are available,” he said.“We will study how Ganesh idols are immersed in Mumbai. We may have a lesson there,” he added.
