Mitigating River Pollution During Indian Festivals: The Efficacy of Artificial Idol Immersion Ponds as a Sustainable Solution

India, with its rich cultural and religious heritage, observes idol immersion in water bodies as a widespread practice. However, this practice frequently results in serious environmental problems, such as heavy metal contamination, water pollution, and ecological imbalance in rivers and other aquatic ecosystems. To address these issues, the current study intends to evaluate the effectiveness of artificial idol immersion ponds as a sustainable remedy to mitigate the adverse environmental impact of idol immersion in rivers during Indian festivals in the Itanagar Capital Complex Region of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Water samples were taken from direct idol immersion in the Dikrong river at Doimukh town during the Vishwakarma Puja and artificial Idol immersion Pond at Jullang town during Durga Puja. The samples were collected in three distinct phases: before, during, and after the immersion. The key factors such as pH, hardness, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), turbidity, temperature, and some heavy metals like lead (Pb), arsenic (As) mercury (Hg), and cadmium (Cd) were analyzed. The findings revealed that Idol immersion in the river significantly impacts the water quality of the Dikrong River, especially through elevated levels of pH, BOD, and heavy metals such as lead and mercury, all of which exceeded permissible limits. The study also revealed that the artificial Idol immersion ponds for the Durga Puja festival celebration had less impact on the Dikrong River than the direct immersion of the idol in the Dikrong River during the Vishwakarma Puja celebration by containing pollutants in controlled environments, allowing for easier waste management and minimizing ecological disruptions.