Religion Vs Environment

Sabyasachi Patra — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:32:39 +0000

Pollution due to Immersion of Idols in rivers and lakes

The festival season is upon us. Millions of Indians, from all walks of life, participate in these festivals. In Bengal and Orissa, Durga Puja is celebrated in a grand scale. Similarly, anyone who has visited Bombay, Pune or any part of Maharashtra, would know how grand the Ganpati celebrations are.

These festivals are conducted in a grand scale. People from all strata participate with enthusiasm starting from collecting monetary contributions, idol making, erecting the "pandals" in public places, decorations etc etc. It increases bonding among people. Wayback, in 1910, Lokamanya Tilak, had observed the Durga Puja celebrations in Calcutta and had realized its potential for increasing bonding among people. He had realized that to take on the might of the British rule, the comman man need to be mobilsed. So he had urged people to celebrate Ganesh Puja in Maharashtra. Ganesh Puja or Ganpati as it is known locally, has assumed mammoth proportions, and is celebrated in a massive scale. You would find an idol of Lord Ganesh in every lane during the festival.

After the Ganesh Puja and the Durga Puja, the idols are taken to a river or sea or nearby tank and immersed in water. During my childhood days, I used to watch the idols being made of clay, straw, bamboo etc. and then finaly they are painted. In earlier days, our painters used to use paints made out of vegetable and other organic matter. However, today the paints are very toxic. And together with the explosion of the population, the number of idols have also increased in an exponential manner. So it has been very difficult for the rivers and sea and other water bodies to handle this increased number of idols as well as the toxic and non-biodegradable material being used these days. I am sure, most of you would find reports of fish dying in lakes and rivers after immersion either due to the oxygen content in the water going down or due to toxic chemicals.

We have already turned some of our rivers into gutters. The residents of Delhi can immediately relate to the present state of the river Jamuna. These rivers actually stink and it becomes unbearable when you are passing over the bridge on these rivers. A question comes to my mind. Do our Gods deserve to be immersed in gutters like Jamuna river and other rivers that have met the same fate?

As concerned citizens, we can take the following steps to improve the situation.

We can urge our local Puja committees or organizers to use biodegradable material and organic colours for the idols.
We can consider immersing the idols in specially created temporary water tanks, so that toxic sludge can then be disposed safely.
Spread the awareness among people so that the burden can be reduced.

I would love to hear your suggestions and comments.

Sabyasachi Patra

I am passionate about wildlife conservation. I am striving to make my films and photographs full of life and emotion and write articles to educate and evangelise the need for conserving the last tracts of vanishing wilderness sand wildlife in our country. I pray to the almighty that my wildlife films, photographs and writings force people to pause, look, ponder and ultimately take action. To make my ends meet, I work as Executive Director at MAIT (Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology)

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Religion Vs Environment

Pollution due to Immersion of Idols in rivers and lakes

Sabyasachi Patra