Thane Mayor Sharmila Pimpolkar has directed the municipal administration to complete all works at Ganesh visarjan ghats by September 13, ahead of the city’s upcoming Ganesh festival and the expected influx of devotees at immersion sites.
Pimpolkar issued the instructions during an inspection of immersion facilities at Datta Ghat near Masunda Lake, the artificial lake at Rayladevi and the immersion ghat at Gaimukh. She also reviewed preparations at the Kopri, Kolshet and Parsik ghats during an earlier inspection, according to a report by Loksatta.
The mayor asked officials to prioritise artificial immersion ponds, electrical arrangements and the installation of closed-circuit television cameras. She also directed departments to make the ghats safer for devotees and to complete arrangements for crowd management, traffic planning and cleanliness.
The municipal administration has been instructed to install barricades around civic lakes, create separate arrangements for devotees to perform aarti and provide weather shelters in view of the possibility of rain. Mobile toilets, loudspeaker systems, information and instruction boards, nirmalya collection containers, drinking water and sanitation facilities are also to be made available at the immersion sites.
The preparations cover the full immersion period, from the immersion of one-and-a-half-day Ganesh idols to the final immersion on Anant Chaturdashi. Since idols are immersed on different days during the festival, officials expect the ghats to remain in use and to see sustained crowds rather than a single-day surge.
Pimpolkar also asked the administration to provide immersion tanks in large housing complexes across Thane. The instruction reflects the growing role of residential societies in organising idol immersions within their premises, while potentially reducing pressure on public water bodies and municipal ghats.
During the inspections, the mayor sought information from officials on ongoing works, facilities planned for devotees, security arrangements, traffic management and sanitation. The municipal administration has begun accelerating preparations at the immersion sites, with the September 13 deadline set for completion of the identified works.
