In the aftermath of Ganesh Chaturthi, this man is making a huge eco difference
The now concluded Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with great pomp and swagger throughout India, especially in Maharashtra. During this festival, the entire complexion of the state changes — pink gulaal and orange flags paint the skies, and dhol and street disco processions pump up citizens and devotees on the ground.
While this has been a tradition since time immemorial, what happens after the ritual is not something many of us think about; with the festivities clogging water bodies and polluted after hundreds of thousands of idols are immersed in them.
A lot of people have actually remedied that by opting for eco-friendly idols, but there are many people who still cling to the old, less sustainable ways.
This year, Kwatra, founder of NGO Aarna Foundation, along with AIESEC and Let’s Do It, has gathered over a thousand volunteers to collect the broken idols from Juhu and Dadar beaches, which were later handed over to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials for proper disposal.
Despite many people opting for eco-friendly alternatives like clay idols, a majority continue to worship idols made of Plaster of Paris (PoP), that is coated with harmful chemical paints.
When these idols are immersed en masse, the seawater and the beaches get severely polluted. It takes months, or even years for these idols to dissolve completely.
Because of this, the remnants of the submerged idols are returned to the beaches by the waves. To make things worse, the heavy, poisonous metals contained in the chemical paints leak into the seawater and pose a threat to marine life.
Kwatra told Mumbai Mirror that paints used to decorate the idol contains metals such as aluminium, chromium, copper and lead which turn into toxic compounds once they dissolve in water. While these compounds damage the gills of fish, PoP reduces the oxygen level in the water, leading to suffocation and eventually death.
After the seventh day of Ganesh Chaturthi this year, thousands of dead fish and turtles washed ashore at Juhu Beach in what made for grim and apocalyptic viewing. This phenomenon was observed at Dadar beach as well.
“One of the major reason for such incidents is the pollution in the sea by POP idols decorated with chemical paints that harms the marine life. Although, the POP cannot be entirely discarded, we have to move to an eco-friendly way of immersion of idols, like the artificial pools. The recycled POP from the artificial pools can be used to make chalks for hundreds of schools,” added Kwatra.
Meanwhile, the BMC will be collecting the idols from the group. Officials claim more dustbins have been placed at the Dadar beach.
Citizen-drives to clean up Mumbai’s beaches have borne fruit in the past year, however, the festival has pushed their efforts back to square one. Apart from damage to marine life, the festive season also proved detrimental for the recently-implemented plastic ban in Maharashtra.
Ketto & the Environment
Since its inception, Ketto has been a strong advocate of environmental consciousness in this country. Click on the links below to view crowdfunding projects it has been involved with for eco-friendly efforts. If you feel inspired, you can perhaps start your own project with Ketto as well.
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