Civic Mismanagement in Ahmedabad: Devotees Left Furious as Unfinished Sabarmati Riverfront Immersion Pits Force Idols onto Dirt

Devotees heading to the Sabarmati Riverfront to immerse their Ganesha idols were met with incomplete construction work, open pits, and sheer apathy from municipal contractors. Despite the festival being well underway, artificial immersion tanks along the West Riverfront remain unfinished, forcing early worshippers to leave their sacred idols on the bare ground next to construction sites.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) awards contracts worth lakhs of rupees annually to build temporary, plastic-lined artificial tanks on open riverfront plots. Designed to protect the Sabarmati River and local lakes from chemical pollution, these tanks are supposed to be fully operational before the festival begins. However, citizens who arrived to perform visarjan for one- or two-day home idols found no water-filled tanks—only dug-up dirt tracks and ongoing digging.

'Leave the Idol and Go': Contractor's Blunt Response Triggers Outrage

When frustrated devotees confronted on-site workers, the contractor's staff offered little reassurance, allegedly telling them: "Work is ongoing. Just leave your idol here, and we will submerge it in the pit later."

Faced with the choice of hauling their consecrated idols back home or leaving them in the dust, several families were forced to leave their Ganesha idols alongside the incomplete pits, raising serious questions about the civic body's oversight and respect for religious sentiments.

Key failures highlighted by local residents and civic observers include:

• Delayed Execution: Immersion tanks along the West Riverfront remained under construction well after Ganesh Chaturthi festivities commenced.
• Lax Monitoring: Despite spending millions in public funds, zone-level municipal officials failed to enforce strict completion deadlines.
• Contractor Apathy: On-site workers dismissed devotee concerns, asking citizens to dump idols on raw earth for later disposal.
• Environmental & Handling Concerns: Past years have seen major controversy over submerged idols being hauled off to the Pirana dump site via garbage trucks instead of receiving respectful disposal.

History of Negligence Raises Fresh Questions

The ongoing chaos has also renewed friction between the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (SRFDCL) and municipal contractors. In previous years, contractors failed to backfill and level the excavated plots properly after the festival, leaving sunken, damaged terrain that riverfront authorities had to repair at public expense.

Coupled with past allegations of improper disposal—where immersed idols were cleared away using municipal trash collectors—this latest failure has sparked widespread anger over poor civic planning and complete disrespect for public sentiments.