Hyderabad: As part of eco-friendly initiatives planned by the state government, over a lakh of clay Ganesh idols will be distributed before the upcoming Ganesh Chaturti. This was announced by Minister K.T. Rama Rao on his Twitter handle. But almost instantly, the statement was rebuked by Sunita Pandey, a rese-archer from the city, who re-tweeted, “Ok. Nice plot. Clay fills up lake gradually. Once lake dies, seemingly natural death. Prime land all across Hyderabad available for land grabbing (sic).” This caught the attention of the tech-savvy minister, who makes it a point to check tweets that flood his handle every hour.
He retorted by saying, “By far, this has to be the most imaginative and cynical tweet I have ever seen. Madam, you should start writing fiction. Good luck to you.” This twitter interaction provoked several reactions from netizens, with some of them backing the government, while others alle-ging that the state administration remained a mute spectator while lakes were encro-ached upon in the city. One Seshagiri Rao re-tweeted, “Live fiction is Tellapur Lake that was encroached by a builder but this is not visible to GHMC. Same case with Anandbagh and Kapra lakes (sic).”
A user named Mahesh felt that Sunita Pandey’s point about lakes being encroached by builders was valid. He hoped the government would restore all lakes in Hyderabad.
HMDA readies 30,000 nature-friendly idols
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) will be distributing 30,000 clay Ganesh idols (small size) on subsidised rates this year.
While it was supported by JICA last year, the urban body is taking up the initiative on its own this year. The idols will be 8-10 inches tall.
The urban body has spent Rs 26 on the making of each idol. However, it will distribute those at subsidised rate of Rs 13 per piece. These clay Ganeshas will be distributed at HMDA main office and parks located at various places in the twin cities.
