India, Sept. 24 -- With Beed facing a drought-like situation and limited water availability, the district administration has appealed to Ganesh mandals and devotees to avoid immersing idols in water bodies used for drinking water and instead use 13 artificial tanks arranged across the district.

District Collector Vivek Johnson held meetings with representatives of Ganesh mandals and urged organisers to cooperate with the administration during the immersion processions. The administration said the alternative arrangements were aimed at allowing devotees to follow the immersion ritual while protecting drinking water sources from being used for large-scale immersion.

"We have conducted several meetings with mandals and devotees. We have ap...