HUBBALLI: Fed up by people leaving broken glass frames of Gods and Goddesses under trees, residents in Navanagar of Hubballi have come up with a unique idea. They have posted a warning post, stating that leaving God's photos under a tree leads to abnormal kids in the family.
The warning has been written in Kannada and pasted on a tree below which dozens of photo frames lie. Several organisations and individuals in Dharwad have been trying hard to eradicate the practice but have not succeeded yet. Earlier such photo frames used to be left near temples, lakes and ficus trees. But in the last few months these broken photo frames of various Gods, Goddesses and pontiffs are now appearing in the middle of residential areas.
"All you need is one photo frame under a tree or site near a temple. Everyone will follow it. People have to find better ways to discard the photo frames of Gods in case they are broken or something. Besides causing danger for people and animals due to broken glasses, the site soon begins to dump all kinds of religious ritual material," pointed out a resident from Navanagar.
The local police stated that many times such frames are dumped during the late night hours and wee hours before morning walkers appear on the roads and lakes. For the last two years, the problem persists in Kelageri lakes where hundreds of such photo frames were recovered. Many people came forward to restore them and clean them but soon after cleaning, the photo frames started being dumped by the people.
"It's a sensitive issue and shows the ignorance of the people. It's also disrespectful towards their own Gods. Many people in Dharwad believe that once the frames with photos of Gods are broken they are not kept and home and are left near a temple, well, lake or a ficus tree. The belief has become a big headache for the civic agency and the local residence," the resident added.
"The frames cannot be transported in the trash carrying vans as it becomes a serious issue. Last year two beggars were carrying broken photo frames on their push cart but they were objected to by a few individuals as the frames had photos of Gods. We are requesting the authorities to bring in some directive about the safe discarding of such photo frames instead of dumping them in public places," said a social activist from Dharwad.