A handful of local citizens without any administrative support were seen cleaning Pichola Lake today, pulling out idols of Goddess, plastic bags, garlands, clothes, bottles etc. This is not rare practice but a weekly campaign has started by the name of Ravivariya Shramdan (Sunday Lake cleaning Service).

However, the scene at Lake Pichola was depressing as more than half of the shore was filled with garbage and leftovers thrown in the lake by the devotees who come to Gangaur Ghat to observe Visarjan of Goddess Durga.

A volunteer said, “Despite of several appeals and request to keep the lakes clean, most of the people are still ignorant, although many groups decided to just dip the idols and remove it at the same time to prevent lake pollution.”

Nand Kishore Sharma, secretary of Mohan Singh Mehta Memorial trust, Anil Mehta, Principal of Vidya Bhawan Polytechnic College and secretary of lake conservation committee, Tej Shankar Paliwal  of Chandpol Nagrik Samiti and others took part in the cleaning-up process and appealed all devotees to prevent lake pollution.