CPREEC - EIACP Programme Centre, Resource Partner on Ecological Heritage and Sacred Sites of India

 Meerut: In order to prevent pollution in Nanu ki Nahar (canal passing by Nanu village), the district administration is thinking of providing devotees with alternate locations for immersing Durga idols. The canal, a distributary of the Ganga, breaks away from the holy river near Roorkie to flow through Meerut.

Immersions will not be allowed to take place at Nanu ki Nahar this year, in order to stop water pollution caused by idols made of plaster of Paris (POP).

Environmental experts say POP idols and the chemicals used to paint them are harmful for water bodies. Tonnes of lead-based paints also pollute the waters and pose a threat to aquatic life.

Made out of acidic chemicals like gypsum, sulphur, phosphorus and magnesium, POP disintegrates at an extremely slow pace as compared to clay, which was earlier used to make idols. The idols sometimes take months to dissolve completely.

Prant Prachar Pramukh of RSS, Ajay Mittal, said the organization supports the administration's decision to keep the river pollution free, but added that exceptions could be made on a case-to-case basis for idols made of clay and environment-friendly paint.

Echoing Mittal's views, Varun Dutta, general secretary of the 208-year-old puja at Bengali Durga Bari at Sadar Bazar said, "We've already informed officials that our idol is made of clay and natural colours. Hence, we will immerse it in Nanu ki Nahar."

Source:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/meerut/No-idol-immersions-in-Ganga-distributary-during-Durga-Puja-Meerut-Admin/articleshow/43918073.cms