As devotees bid farewelll to their Gods on Vijaydashmi, water bodies in Agra were left in a mess. Experts have expressed concern of the impact of such idols that were immersed in the water bodies.
Speaking to TOI, Surekha Yadav, a social worker and environment enthusiast said, “Idols in earlier times were made of mud and painted with natural colours such as gerru and even ‘turmeric’. But now people use materials like plaster of Paris which is further coated with harmful paints that contains chemicals and toxicants.”
There were a few residents who were circulating messages on social media to spread the word on using envrionment-friendly idols.
“I used WhatsApp to spread the message. People should know that respecting the environmental balance is just as important as paying your homeage to God. The administration must take action against those using harmful colours,” said Bunty Grover, a resident.
He further added that authorities must put a cap on the size of the idols that can be made. Debris of the idols of various siezes were left on the banks of various water bodies. The Agra Municipal Corporation, however, took out a massive cleaning drive to rid the ponds, lakes and other water bodies of these idol debris.
Deputy municipal commissioner, Anil Kumar said proper arrangements were made and pits created at Balkeshwar ghat, Hathi ghat and at Dussehra ghat for the devotees to carry out their procession and rituals.
“There were enough people to clean the pits at any point of time. There was a designated fleet of around 10-12 vehicles of the AMC for this job. It seems to have not helped. We will look into the matter and see what more can be done to avoid such dirty fallouts of any religious procession,” he added.
Date: October 16, 2016