Soman and his society members would go to Juhu Chowpatty to immerse the seven-day Ganpati every year
It is not just the desire to protect the environment that is pushing citizens to have an eco-friendly Ganpati. Some are driven by the respect for the Lord too.
At Bimbisar Nagar in Goregaon (East), residents of around 14 buildings are celebrating Ganeshotsav with a promise to themselves that they will celebrate the festival in such a way that they don't feel any guilt. And for this, they have made an idol out of paper.
"For the past 13 years, we were getting Plaster of Paris idols. Last year, we had it enough when we were stepping on body parts of the Lord immersed in the sea. We then decided not to have PoP idols anymore," said Abhijit Soman, secretary of Bimbisar Nagar Sanskrutik Mandal.
Soman and his society members would go to Juhu Chowpatty to immerse the seven-day Ganpati every year. "However, those who had immersed their five-day Ganpatis or those who had come minutes before us, the idols wouldn't dissolve by then and we would end up stepping on them. We felt really bad and, hence, made up our minds to go for paper," said Soman.
Before deciding for paper, the group first checked how much time it takes. "Paper idols do not take much time to dissolve. We showed them how it works and, within minutes, the Ganpati is gone," said Digambar Mayekar, a papier mâché idol maker who made theirs.
The mandal has now gone a step further to ensure that the Ganpati and its immersion is as eco-friendly as it can get. "This time, we will also go to an artificial pond for immersion," said Soman. Eco-friendly decoration is another measure they have taken. "All the decoration is from paper," added Soman.
In case of Shrakas Mitra Mandal in Shahu Nagar, Mahim (East), residents have decided to recycle the decoration. "We have used cotton and Shivlings. These will be recycled during Navratri," said Ritesh Kadam, a treasurer of Shrakas Mitra Mandal.
Unlike Bimbisar Nagar, theirs is the first Ganpati. "We decided that since we are getting for the first time, why not have one which is eco-friendly," said Kadam. But there was no compromise on the style of the Lord. Despite paper, they ensured that the Ganpati is as per their desire. "We wanted to have one on a throne and we got one like that," said Kadam.
Kadam added that among all the eco-friendly options they decided to go for a paper one as it dissolves faster and is lighter too.
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