Hyderabad, Sep 9 (IANS) With the 10-day long Ganesh Chaturthi festival
beginning Monday, authorities are trying to promote more eco-friendly
celebrations, including popularising clay idols and minimising immersion
in water bodies, including in the famous Hussain Sagar Lake.
Considered one of the city's landmarks, the lake is struggling for
revival in the face of rampant civic pollution. Authorities are
therefore trying to promote small changes in the festival observances to
save the water body.
Festivities surrounding the Ganesh festival have grown manifold over the
years. According to R.P. Khajuria, member (environment) of the
Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), this specially
pertains to the size of idols and the number of celebrations at various
community levels, the two counts on which the authority is now appealing
for moderation.
"We have appealed to the public to reduce the size of the Ganesha idol,
and immerse these smaller idols at the household level, maybe in a
bucket or tub of water, and then use this water for gardening," Khajuria
told IANS.
"Additionally, we have also requested people to hold collective
celebrations at significant points of the city - instead of doing it at
every community level - and then immerse the idols at an artificial
pond," he added.
In a bid to encourage people, HMDA has promised to highlight stories of the "heroes" who practise local immersion methods.
To further encourage eco-friendly celebrations, Khajuria said HMDA has also launched a campaign for popularising clay idols.
"The Clay Ganesha campaign is in association with two NGOs, Save and
Sukuki Exnora, which have taken up the responsibility of making clay
idols. Anyone can register with us, and we will supply them with such
idols for the festival," he said, adding that they have also
collaborated with the College of Home Science in Khairathabad to provide
natural colours for the idols.
Although the campaign was first launched in 2012 it had not picked up
much pace. This year, however, 30,000 people, Khajuria says, have
registered with HMDA for the clay idols, whose height is restricted to
three feet.
He credited the Hussain Sagar Lake clubs at the school and college
level, volunteers, and the campaign in the social media for the spurt in
registration.
The authority's efforts are however not restricted to one festival, Khajuria said.
"A huge quantity of puja material, along with plastics, is dropped into
the Hussain Sagar Lake daily because of the belief that prayer material
should be immersed in a water body. To address this issue, we have
established 10 puja/plastic material collection counters around the lake
where people can dispose of the material in specially designed water
containers," he said.
"The material collected is then used to make compost and used in gardens around the lake," he said.
The first counter was started in June this year, and 447 people used it in the first month, he said.
Built in the 16th century during the reign of Ibrahim Qutub Shah, the
nearly five square kilometre sized Hussain Sagar Lake was originally
built to meet drinking and irrigation needs of the city. With a large
monolithic statue of the Buddha in the centre, the lake attracts both
locals and tourists, although many people now complain of its
deteriorating state, due to pollution that raises a stink.
Religion being a sensitive issue, Khajuria admitted that HMDA can only
appeal to people to adopt environmentally conscious habits.
"People are becoming conscious, and with that thought we have appealed
for the immersions (of the Ganesha idol) to be diverted to other lakes
and ponds to reduce pollution in the Hussain Sagar Lake," he said.
"In any case we are prepared for the lake clearing work after the immersions in the coming days," he said resignedly.
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