Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) chairman Vamanacharya said people should not ignore the environment during the Ganesha festival, which falls on September 8 and 9. They should emulate Pune and start reusing the large Ganesha idols instead of immersing them.
He was speaking at the inauguration of a one-day workshop on ‘Making Ganesha Festival Environmental-friendly’ organised here on Wednesday by the KSPCB.
Vamanacharya said, “In Pune, they have started reusing the large Ganesha idols and immersing only the small ‘utsava’ idols to minimise pollution.”
Vamanacharya said the Board has framed guidelines for immersing idols in lakes, rivers and sea. Painted idols contain lead, which causes major pollution when they are immersed. Therefore, small tanks should be constructed by the side of tanks and rivers specifically for immersing idols. Care should be taken to ensure that water from the tanks in which the idols are immersed is properly disposed of to minimise pollution, he added. Vamanacharya appealed to idol makers to use natural colours made of charcoal, turmeric, crystal, bark, tree extracts, gum, flowers and leaves instead of synthetic colours. These were on display at the workshop.
Advisor to the National Referral Centre for Lead Projects in India, Prof Sashidar, said just by reducing the size of the idols, one can minimise the pollution level. People should be discouraged from buying painted idols and unpainted idols should be made accessible to every one.