Green Ganpati a pipe dream?

Idol makers say pollution control board hasn't conducted any meeting regarding the need to make clay idols yet and Plaster of Paris idols have already been made

WITH Ganesh Chaturthi barely two months away, the environment ministry's dream of making the festival eco-friendly through the exclusive use of clay for making idols seems destined for failure yet again.

Like last year, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has failed to hold a meeting with idol makers to chalk out ways to prevent them from making Plaster of Paris (PoP) idols and switch to the greener clay instead.


Idol makers say that the meeting was held too late last year for them to use clay for the idols and that they have already started making PoP idols this year as well.

"No meeting has been called by the MPCB officials so far. We have already started making PoP idols as making idols from clay is very time consuming and requires us to have more room to work and store the idols in.
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In all our meetings with the MPCB, we had made it clear that we need trained staff, space and money for the eco-friendly initiative to work," said Naresh Dahibawkar, president, Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti, which is the coordination committee of all Ganesh mandals in the city.

"The former environment minister had assured us that a committee of idol makers, representatives of the mandals and others would be set up to look into the issue, but nothing has happened till date.

Last year, the MPCB had approached us to implement green initiatives when 80 per cent of the idols had already been made and the situation seems to be the same this year," he added.

Renowned Ganesh idol maker Vijay Khatu concurred with Dahibawkar "For years, we have been asking the government to allot us some space where idol makers can keep their creations round the year.

However, our demands are never met or heard. Making a small clay idol requires much more time than a big PoP one and so, if the government wants the festival to be a green one, they need to give us space for storing the idols so that we have enough time to make them," said he.

Khatu also said that none of the mandals had asked for eco-friendly Ganesh idols yet. "Calling for a meeting now won't make any sense because our work is almost complete," he added.

The Other Side
When contacted, Sanjay Bhuskte, PRO, MPCB, said, "The meeting will be called soon. Many idol makers and mandals are still not showing interest in going green. We will soon be issuing guidelines for the same."