Ganesha habba is here. In case you happen to live around a lake, make yourself an honorory custodian of the lake and ensure that the immersion rituals do not end up polluting the lake.
Lake development authority, bangalore has an appeal in all the newspapers requesting people to celebrate the festival in a more responsible, environment- conscious way. The guidelines include:

Buying idols of clay which dissolve easily in water.

Not to use painted idols or immerse them in lakes as the toxic substances in the paint get deposited on the tank bed. They also have the potential to penetrate the soil and contaminate the ground water in the surrounding areas causing serious trouble to public health. It reduces the survival of Fish and other aquatic life.

People can actually dissolve the idol in a bucket of clay and then pour the water out in their gardens which is a favourable form of disposal than using the lakes.

Not to let flowers and nirmalyas wash into lakes as they will decay and pollute the water too.

Finally, it costs the state exchequer lakhs of rupees to restore the lakes after the festival which we can actually avoid by being more conscious.

Not too tough to follow if we care for our environment and realise the importance of ground water to our health. Please spread the message around.

Wishes for a very happy Ganesh Chaturti to all Bangaloreans!