Mumbai suburbs rule on eco-friendly front

One out of five Ganesh pandals in the city meet at least some of the ‘eco-friendly’ norms set by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), a study conducted by DNA as part of its ‘eco-Ganesha’ campaign has revealed.

Of the more than 600 pandals that were inspected by DNA teams, only 123 followed the environment rules. It was found that smaller mandals were more enthusiastic about following norms than their larger counterparts.

Suggestions made by MPCB include use of cloth and flower decorations, clay or mud idols, non-toxic paints, segregation of inorganic matter from wastes before disposing it off and restricted use of loud speakers.

The mandals that met the criteria decorated mandaps with fresh flowers, paper and wood instead of plaster-of-paris and thermocol. The most common violation of the norms was the use of plaster idols and indiscriminate use of loud speakers.

There was also a clear city-suburban divide as far as adoption of eco-friendly norms are concerned. Mandals from Navi Mumbai, Kandivli, Thane and Vile Parle figured prominently among those that have incorporated environment-friendly practices into their festivities.

In Thane, Vijay Garden, a large housing complex on Ghodbunder Road with around 400 families, used a clay idol this time. Apart from the idol, the residents have incorporated other eco-friendly ways into the celebration. Instead of thermocol or plaster-of-paris decorations, they use reusable cloth for decorating the pandal.

“In this way, plaster and thermocol doesn’t end up in water bodies,” said Shirish Rane of the Vijay Garden Cultural Committee that organises the festival for the residents of the colony. To reduce noise pollution, loudspeakers are switched off during the day and are used only between 7.30 and 10.00pm during cultural programmes.

Figures about immersion of idols suggest that environment-friendly practices are being adopted increasingly. In 2009, out of the 1,87,506 big and small idols that were immersed within city limits, only around 8400 were brought to the artificial pools constructed for the occasion. Though figures are still unavailable for this year’s festival so far, reports suggest that a larger number of idols have been brought to the artificial pools.

Regional officer of MPCB D B Vadde said, “There is a definite trends toward an eco-friendly festival. There is greater public awareness about  environmental hazards of the festival but it will some more years before a majority of devotees adopt eco-friendly norms.”