Eco-Ganesha drive ends on a high note

DNA’s eco-Ganesha drive ended on a fantastic note on Friday as the 8-feet tall papier mache Ganpati at the Oberoi Mall was immersed after a seven-day period. DNA had undertaken a drive to create awareness and inspire people to get eco-friendly Ganpatis at home and at different mandals in Mumbai.

The awareness drive was conducted at the Oberoi Mall in Goregaon. The mall witnessed almost 40,000 footfalls and half of these people visited the Ganpati idol. One tenth of the total number of people pledged their support to the cause on the DNA board, and vowed to bring home an eco-friendly Ganpati next year.

“We used to get a Ganpati idol to our house for over 21 years. We stopped after our wishes were fulfiled. Now if we ever plan of getting one, we will definitely try to get an eco-friendly idol. It does not take a lot of effort. We just have to make up our minds and take some effort,” said Rajeshwari Venkatraman, resident of Greenfield society, Andheri.

“This is a good initiative. A lot of people prefer to go to malls instead of mandal-hopping to look at the different Ganpati idols. They mostly visit their near and dear ones. This way, a lot of people can be made aware of the benefits of eco-Ganeshas. Lifestyles are changing and this is a good way to reach out to the masses,” said Akshata Mistry, a Goregaon resident, who took part in the eco-Ganesha initiative.
Silvi Kumar, a resident of Thakur Village, said, “Many people give lip-service about going green but no one does anything about it.”
The Ganpati used for DNA awareness drive was made of eco-friendly papier mache material, from the newspapers donated by helpful readers. In the decorations, ecologically hazardous material like thermocol and artificial colours were avoided. To ensure that there was no sound pollution, a DJ was employed to modulate the music when the Ganpati was immersed at the Chotta Kashmir pond in Aarey Colony.