The civic body is in touch with several corporates to fund the initiative under corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme.
The B-ward of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has taken a unique initiative to promote eco-friendly Ganesh idols made of paper pulp. The ward office has been identifying artists who can make such eco-friendly idols in mass numbers and corporates who can fund the cost to make available the idols at subsidies prices. One of the main reasons of high price of paper made idols is its time taken in making it.
To protect environment, Udaykumar Shiroorkar, assistant municipal commissioner of B ward has taken the initiative himself. He said that plaster of paris (PoP) made idols leave severe biological impact in water when idols are immersed after festival. "In the past, we have seen dead fish floating couple of days after PoPs-made idols were immersed in ponds across the city," said Shiroorkar.
He said that recently he had come across an artist who made Ganesh idols from wastes like newspaper or magazine paper, binding gum and some other materials which do not have bad affect in the environment. "The paper made idol is light and also looks alike with idols made of PoPs. However, the cost of paper made idols are a little more than PoPs," he added.
Shiroorkar said that the artist had around 300 idols, and all were sold immediately when the civic body started promoting it among the corporate. One of the main reasons for the high price of paper made idols is the time taken in making it. "The artist can make three times more PoPs idol than paper pulp idol in the same time, and that is why artists do not show much interest. In addition, it also becomes for them to sell these idols in the market when PoPs made idols are available at low cost," said Shiroorkar.
The civic body is in touch with several corporates to fund the initiative under corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme. "The paper made idol is light and also looks alike with idols made of PoPs Common people can buy these idols at a subsidised price while the civic body will compensate artists with the funds it gets from the corporates," said Shiroorkar. He said that couple of corporates have shown interest in funding the initiative.
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