Eco-Friendly Idols for Immersion

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Making the Gods Smile: Eco-Friendly Idols for Immersion

Roshni Sengupta

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Imagine an 11-foot-tall Ganesh idol, weighing a cool 35

kilograms, made entirely out of newspaper. And what is

more, the paper bears 1000 litres of water after

submergence, and disintegrates in four hours flat. Surprised!

Mumbai was too after this year's Ganeshotsav celebrations

became the first eco-friendly expression of religious fervour

ever.

 

Developed and designed by IIT Bombay's Centre for

Environmental Science and Engineering, the large papier-

mache Ganesh idol was the culmination of years of research

on idols made of PoP (Plaster of Paris), shadoo or local

clay, lake silt, and newspaper pulp. Samples measuring 12

inches from these types were submerged in separate glass

tanks. Dr Shyam Asolekar, head of the centre and in-charge

of the project informed weekly magazine Outlook that the

PoP idol was the worst. It showed no change in structure

even after 15 days of submergence.

 

With a mission to reduce the ecological footprint of idol

immersion, the BMC (Bombay Municipal Corporation) has

been working closely with the centre in developing ways

and means to make the celebrations kinder to the earth and

the environment. If Ganpati went green this year, it was not

without help from the municipality. More than 25 000 small

idols were immersed in artificial tanks set up by BMC at

Mulund and Goregaon. Close to 14 000 idols were

immersed in a reservoir built by Thane's corporators.

 

The BMC also collected 1500 trucks full of nirmalaya

(flower offerings) to be used for vermiculture projects at 24

sites across the city. The morning after the visarjan saw

3000 BMC workers and 1000 volunteers cleaning up the

beaches, where the remains of the Ganesha idols were

washed ashore.

 

Most idols in this year's Ganeshotsav celebrations were

made of clay and silt from the Powai lake-about 1900

small clay and silt Ganeshas made their way into homes and

localities. Navsrujan - a group of amateur

environmentalists from IIT Bombay - were the progenitors

of this vacuous idea that came to fruition this year. The

group has held scores of public workshops since 2003,

drawing students and adults alike. They teach Ganesha

followers how to mould the elephant-headed god out of silt

from the nearby Powai lake. What they take from the lake is

given back to it at the time of immersion.

 

And the best part about this radical transformation is that the

love for Mother Earth is not limited only to the Ganesh

festival in Maharashtra. In fact, Holi too witnessed a surfeit

of colours-organic, pure, and biodegradable. In Delhi and

Mumbai this year, every corner grocery store was offering

natural colours made of turmeric, beetroot, and henna.

Taken over completely by commercialization and greed,

colours for many years have given more than the usual

allergy to people. The chemicals - such as chromium iodide

(purple), mercuric oxide (red), copper sulphate (green), lead

(black), mica, and glass (glitter) - used in these colours

affected the eyes, skin, respiratory tract, and were enough to

cause renal disorder, and even cancer.

 

Durga Puja celebrations in Delhi and even Kolkata

expressed a deep regard for nature by offering prizes for the

most eco-friendly pandal-with Durga idols of unbaked

clay, painted in non-toxic colours. The Naktala Milan

Sangha welcomed scores of people into a pandal made

almost completely from bamboo and rope made from

bamboo fibre-clean and close to nature. Similar sights

were witnessed across Kolkata and Delhi.

 

The Sarbajanin Puja Samiti at B-Block, Chittaranjan Park

had experimented with an eco-friendly festival in 2005

itself. The pandal, made almost entirely from waste such as

used plastic cups, leaf cups (dongas), and kulhads, was a hit

with visitors who were smitten by the ingenuity of the

pandal-makers as well as the organizers.

 

Diwali, usually a curse for the environment, has been turned

into an occasion when nature is worshipped along with the

gods and goddesses at Kendriya Vidyalaya 2 in Mumbai.

Almost all of the 150 6th-grade students have resolved to

boycott crackers this Diwali, and persuade others to do so.

The Sanskar India Foundation, an NGO (non-governmental

organization) working with the students for the past three

years, conducts the Sanskar Programme in more than 50

Mumbai schools.

 

Taking 16 modules on environmental and civic values the

year round, free of charge for almost 5000 children, is a task

not everyone would envy. The Sanskar Programme,

however, goes beyond classroom lectures and

demonstrations. The 'Say no to Firecrackers' campaign

extends beyond the classrooms.

 

The winds of change have swept across Delhi schools as

well. The Delhi-based CLEAN (Community Led

Environment Action Network) takes the same message to

the 7th, 8th, and 9th graders at 250-odd schools in 78 towns

in India. There are other much smaller efforts that have

made a difference in the city. At Aardee Montessori School

in the capital, the money saved from non-purchase of

crackers is used to buy sweets for underprivileged children.

 

The Sanskriti School too has been engaged in a campaign

against firecrackers for the past four years now. Real

Diwali, according to the students of this prestigious school,

was celebrated with diyas, colours, and love, and not with

nerve-wracking, noisy, and polluting firecrackers. A

sentiment that has gone a long way in making this festival

season a reason to celebrate.