City NGO Ekam Seva Parivar (ESP) is working hard to spread awareness about celebrating environment friendly Ganeshotsav and the importance of the festival. About 25 volunteers of the NGO circulated 22,000 pamphlets amongst students of schools falling under Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad areas.
The Parivar has prepared an informative pamphlet which not only provides the information of ecofriendly concepts, but provide the detail information about the scripture of Lord Ganesha.
After reading various scriptures and after consulting various experts in the field, including Date Panchang, this information was gathered for school children, informed Ravindra Kulkarni of the Parivar.
Kulkarni said that the main objectives of the Ekam Seva Pariwar were to work in the field of environment and health. To assist in or be conductive in fostering environmental education, protection and security, to generate mass awareness of critical issues of environmental degradation. To find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment problems. For the first time, the Parivar is starting the work of eco-awareness on Ganesh festival.
The volunteers have also planned to clean the Pavana and Indrayani rivers’ ghat after immersions of Ganesh idols.
Kulkarni said, “ESP started awareness from children because they are the future of our country. We are receiving nice response from children because the information appealed to them directly.”
The ESP teaches how to make idols of 5 to 9 inches. Most of the children feel sad when Ganesh idols are immersed so they are taught how to celebrate Ganesh even after the immersion. By using metal idols or brass or Panchdhatu. You can keep these idols at home permanently.
ESP volunteers have appealed to the children not to use plaster of Paris idols and once take a ride on the next day to the river banks where immersion takes places and see what happens to the idols the next day.
ESP had been providing free toilet service in Pandharpur Wari every year since 2008. In addition Ekam provided free toilet service at Bhimashankar during Mahashivratri for 3 years and persuaded authorities to construct permanent toilets for pilgrims. The ESP office situated at Tanaji Nagar, Chinhwad, is also conducting various spiritual activities such as yoga and meditation.
FDA appeals to mandals to make prasad safe
The Pune division joint commissioner, Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Shashikant Kekare has made an appeal to all Ganesh mandals to take certain precautions while distributing the prasad and mahaprasad during Ganeshotsav, Navratri and Dassera celebrations.
Kekare has issued a list of instructions for mandals to follow. The foremost is to take a bill of all the food items required and also the name of the shop, shopkeeper and the telephone number of the shop from where items were purchased.
“Individuals who donate food for prasad to the mandal during the celebrations must be given a badge from the mandal and their name, address and contact details must be noted down to avoid unpleasant incidents. It’s a request to all the mandals, to neither entertain individuals to distribute prasad to the audience nor accept such donations and also put up a board mentioning the same Also prasad should be distributed by a responsible member of the mandal,” he said.
He said that mandals must maintain hygiene while preparing prasad and mahaprasad and keep them covered and stored in clean containers.
“Do not distribute stale and leftover food items. The name, address and contact details of the cooks who will make the food items must be noted,” he added.
A release from the FDA office said mandals could, for any querries, contact the joint commissioner (Pune Division) at Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Guruwar Peth, Lucky Building, Pune. Tel. No. 020 24430113/ 24477555.
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