“Even God will not come in the way of development, reduce the size of Lord Ganesha”: Hyderabad HC

The Hyderabad High Court on Thursday directed the govt to reduce the height of idols of Lord Ganesha to be installed in public places for the next Vinayaka chaturthi as huge idols crossing 50 feet height are posing a threat to the city.

The bench comprising acting chief justice Dilip B Bhosale and Justice SV Bhatt ask the T govt and GHMC authorities to inform about the step being taken in this regard. Special government pleader B.Mahender Reddy sought time for filing an action plan in respect of reducing the height of idols.

The HC decision came in response to a petition filed by M.Venu Madhav, an advocate of the city, complaining that the earlier orders of the court in regard to immersion of Ganesh idols in the city lakes were not being complied with.

When told about the removal of several foot-over-bridges (FOBs) to facilitate the passage of Ganesha processions with huge idols, the bench said: “Even lord Ganesha will not like to remain a stumbling block to the process of city’s development. The size of the God should be such that when you stand in front of Ganesha, you should be able to see the face of the Lord.”

The bench directed the authorities to constitute a committee and have discussions with Ganesh utsav samitis and other stakeholders to study the feasibility of reducing the height of idols by next year’s festival period. Construction of foot over bridges, flyovers or any developmental activity should not be affected because of huge idols, the bench observed. The bench posted the matter for hearing after two weeks to facilitate the state government and GHMC to file the required details.

The GHMC in its earlier report said the height of idols immersed in lakes in Bengaluru city were of a height of less than 8-ft but most of the idols immersed in the Hyderabad lakes were above 30-ft tall.