Maximum Navi Mumbaikars go eco-friendly

Navi Mumbaikars are doing their best by adopting the eco-friendly way while celebrating Ganeshotsav.

From materials used to make the idol to decorating makhar, they are using materials to ensure it does not affect the environment.

It is a busy life for all with work eating up half of the day, leaving little time for any other pursuits. However, people have not let this factor hamper their zeal for an eco-friendly celebration.

Shekhar Aher, resident of Airoli, along with his wife Swapnaja, has gone the extra mile to keep his Ganeshotsav celebration purely eco-friendly. Not only is the idol made of shaadu mitti (clay), but the banyan tree makhar is also made of newspapers and cloth. “This is our first eco-friendly celebration. We purchased the idol and painted it using water colours. The highlight is the banyan tree set up which is 9-feet-tall. We started saving newspapers for two months and used maida flour to bind the cardboard, old clothes together with the papers,” says Aher.

“Since we spent whatever time we had after coming home from office, it took us 12 days to complete the banyan tree model. We used real banyan tree roots so that it will have the same effect.”

Aher and his wife try to spread the eco-friendly message and since they are artists, their friends approach them for suggestions. Aher says, “I always tell them use materials such as flowers, leaves and cloth not only because it is eco-friendly, but also because the decoration looks good and realistic. Also, this is a very cost-effective approach; one has to shell out very less money as most things are available at home.”

The Agarwals from Vashi extract each others’ creative juices and do a great job of decoration by using natural materials based on themes. This year it is a ‘Go Green’ theme as the lord is surrounded by lush greenery.

“On the left side of the idol, we have created a village scene, making a hut using cardboard and straws. On the right, there is a small pond surrounded with rocks and a Shiv ling in the centre. A lot of grass and saplings have been used to give the look and feel of a real lawn,” says Preeti Agarwal, who along with her husband Navin and friend Venkat did the decoration in three days.

Another Vashi resident Niklesh Wadhwa has been going the greener way for 10 years, using only shaadu idol. “This year we requested the artist to use single colour for the idol and painted with sindoor. We try using materials available at home for the decoration and this year we have fashioned a garden using grass and plants. We have used an old pipe to make a water fountain,” he says.

He adds, “Since we do not know how to make an idol perfectly, a couple of times we had an idol professionally made using paper mache and again used whatever we had at home to decorate it. For instance, we have many toys made of China clay, so we use it to create the setting based on our theme.”