Environmental Concerns Over Festival Figures In India
by Kimberley D. Mok, Montreal, Canada on 10. 1.07
This October will bring one of the biggest festivals for Hindus – particularly those living in the eastern parts of India and Bangladesh – a ten-day celebration of the warrior goddess Durga. In places like Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) it becomes an all-out affair, with thousands of pandals or temporary temple structures set up all over the city to worship the deity, live music and people from all over converging onto the city to participate in the festivities, causing traffic mayhem. The highlight of the festival occurs when elaborately decorated figures of the goddess, carried by huge processions, are immersed ceremoniously in the river.
However, with the immersion of thousands of statues every year into India’s rivers and lakes during festivals such as the ones for Durga and for the elephant-headed god Ganesh, Indian environmentalists have raised concerns about the toxic content of the statues as the celebrations become increasingly commercialized.
"The commercialization of holy festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi ("festival") and Durga Puja ("worship") has meant people want bigger and brighter idols and are no longer happy with the ones made from eco-friendly materials," says Ramapati Kumar, a toxics campaigner for Greenpeace India.
"Traditionally, the idols were made from mud and clay and vegetable-based dyes were used to paint them but now it's more like a competition between households and between corporates who sponsor the idols to gain publicity."
Materials such as plastic, plaster of Paris are used and do not dissolve readily in water, consequently lowering oxygen to levels that are harmful to fish. Carcinogenic heavy metals such as lead, mercury and chromium are present in the paints used to decorate the sculptures and also end up in the water.
Environmentalists are calling for regulation over the making of the figures to prevent ecological contamination.
In other cities such as Pune however, awareness campaigns for "eco-friendly immersions" have been effective in changing practices to using tanks and tubs instead of natural water bodies.
"No one is saying that the immersion of idols should not happen - religious practices should be respected," says Suresh Babu from the Centre for Science and Environment, a Delhi-based environmental think-tank.
"But the government should impose guidelines to craftsmen who make the idols to use eco-friendly materials and organic paints so that we give the environment as much respect as we give god."
::Environmental News Network
See also ::An eco-friendly Ganesh Utsav
If this is an issue already..wont it create a bigger issues if any actions are taken agaisnt it since India is one of the countries that is based on culture, and if anyone goes against their culture wont it create a bigger trauma?