'DNA' eco-Ganesha: Eco-friendly idols leave Mumbai beaches clean

More and more people opting for ‘’eco-friendly’’ Ganesha Idols this year has led to dumping of less garbage on city beaches.

Though decayed flower garlands, coconut shells, festoons and plastic cups strewn across the sands were the shocking flipside of the Ganesha festival on Friday morning, number of broken plaster of paris (POP) idols on city beaches were less this year due to growing number of people opting for eco-friendly idols.

Concerned over the toll such a festival takes on the environment, over 200 students from RD National College, Bandra, carried out a clean up drive at Juhu beach to prevent the debris and the garbage from festering on the beach and damaging the fauna.

Organised by seven students of Bachelors of Mass Media (BMM), the drive saw a huge turnout as students from across faculties were willing to lend a hand to clean up the mess left behind after the Ganesha immersions.

While the city was immersed in a lazy slumber, these students took to their brooms and started cleaning up the beach at 7.30am. Within two hours, the students filled over 300 garbage bags to the brim. The BMC also provided them with over 100 extra bags, which too were quickly filled up.

Moin Shaikh, a TYBMM student and group leader, said that they were shocked by the sight of the garbage piled up onto the beach, but surprised that there was not too many debris of broken idols.

‘’Generally, the morning after immersions, one can see beaches are filled with broken idols. We were surprised that it was not so bad this year. This could be small evidence that people have woken up to the importance of using eco-friendly idols made of clay and not POP,’’ he said.

Unfortunately, people do not seem to know how to dispose the flowers, garlands and other products used for the puja say students.

Simply leaving behind such flowers on the beach is harmful, instead this waste also needs to be disposed separately. “We encountered heaps of garlands entangled with each other on the beach. Also the amount of plastic cups and bottles lying around was shocking. Beaches end up becoming collateral damage of such festivals,’’ said Aman Sheth, one of the organisers.

Another student, Ruchi Singhi, says that it was good to clean up the beach right after the first immersion, instead of waiting till the last day. “Generally, people wait till the last day to clean up. But by that time the garbage continues to pile and even gets buried under the sand. Hence, it is necessary to conduct clean ups regularly, after each immersion,’’ she said.