Ganesh visarjan held amid pothole-ridden roads in Kalyan-Dombivli

KALYAN: Ganesh idol immersion (visarjan) was carried out on Saturday across Kalyan-Dombivli, but the celebrations were marred by the poor condition of city roads. Several Ganesh mandals complained that pothole-ridden stretches caused them significant difficulties while carrying Lord Ganesh idols for immersion.Earlier, Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) city engineer Anita Pardeshi had repeatedly assured that all major city potholes would be filled before the immersion processions. However, mandals claimed that despite these promises, major routes remained in a dilapidated condition, creating hurdles during visarjan.A Ganesh mandal from Waldhuni in Kalyan said that on immersion day, routes including F Cabin Road, Waldhuni Bridge, Ram Bagh, and Santoshi mata Road near HDFC Bank were so badly damaged that safely carrying the idol became a challenge.

Some mandals alleged that, in order to protect the idols from damage due to potholes, they were forced to take longer detours via cement-concrete roads.This year, citizens and devotees in Kalyan-Dombivli have repeatedly expressed anger over the state of roads. Following protests, KDMC had claimed to have filled the potholes ahead of Ganeshotsav, but poor-quality patchwork quickly gave way in the rains. When faced with backlash, city engineer Anita Pardeshi assured that potholes would be refilled with mastic asphalt before immersion.

However, according to mandals, only token repairs were carried out in some places, while several key stretches remained neglected.Ganesh mandals acknowledged that KDMC had arranged adequate facilities at immersion ghats, but said the poor road conditions forced them to bid farewell to Lord Ganesh through pothole-ridden routes.Meanwhile, to ensure smooth immersion and manage traffic, Additional Commissioner of Police Sanjay Jadhav and DCP Atul Zende personally supervised arrangements and remained present at the immersion ghats past 1am.