As the day
of Ganesh visarjan nears my memory goes back to my teenage days. I remember
sleepless night, during the festival just before the morning Visarjan of
the idol, engulfed with the extreme fun and the moment of fellowshipping,
singing, dancing and worshipping. Back
then idols would amount from 50 rs to 50,000- 1 lac in Raipur city. I must say
that most of the youngsters involved in the activity are there not because of
any religiosity or piety towards any god or goddess but for entertaining
factors of festival (lasts for 9-10 days).
Ganesh Visarjan
is a widely celebrated Hindu festival in India in the honour of god Ganesha. Festival
wasn’t the part of traditional Hinduism but introduced to people by Mr.
Bhausaheb Laxman Javale in 1892 in Pune It is celebrated in Bhadrapada as per
Hindu calendar and anywhere between months of August to September as per
Gregorian calendar.
We can
witness Ganesha idols in most streets during Ganesh Chaturthi almost in every corner
of India. At the end of the festival, as part of the ritual, Ganesh idol will
be taken to march and submerged in water by the devotees.
Hindu
mythology presents many stories, which explain how Ganesha obtained his elephant
or gaja head. One popular belief is through the dirt and turmeric of Parvati Ganesh
was formed. Devotees sometimes interpret his elephant head as indicating
intelligence, discriminative power, fidelity, or other attributes thought to be
had by elephants. The large elephant ears are said to denote wisdom and the
ability to listen to people who seek help.
But wait…
Have you ever thought what happens after Ganesh Visarjan?
Well I’m not
focused here to talk about theological aspects of this festival but
environmental.
While
celebrating Ganesh Festival people generally ignore environmental impact of
pollution they cause in Air, Water, land, humanity.
In ancient
days, paints were made from natural colors that are found in vegetables, fruits
etc. But these days the paints are manufactured by industries with toxic chemical
process and this leads to extreme water pollution. It takes a lot of time to fashion
clay idols. One can make about four Plaster of Paris idols in a single day but at
least three days to make one clay idol. While a two-foot Plaster of Paris idol
will cost you about Rs 3,000, the same sized clay idol will cost you about Rs
5,000.
We see
advertisement of various products (to be used in festivals) in television
generating piety in our hearts. So you think they have any concern for god or
your piety??? They are their to make
money out of your spiritually and give no regard to your well being. That’s all
about media and seller. It is a clear demand generating activity benefiting the
artisans and churning the money in the system.
Air
Pollution
During this
festival, fireworks and crackers are castoff in plenty by the followers for showing
their cheerfulness. This leads to Air pollution, as harmful gases and toxic
substances like Barium, Cadmium, Sodium, Mercury, Nitrate and Nitrite are
released into air. Also, respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) level
goes high in this season as small particles are released into the atmosphere by
these firecrackers.
Noise
pollution
Loudspeakers, fire crackers and loud musical instruments, appear to be one of the biggest culprits of noise pollution during festivals in our country. Devotees
celebrate the prestigious festival with all possible means of loud music like
listening to bhajjans, kirtans and songs using massive speakers.
All the
above points add up and increase Noise pollution way beyond the permissible
level of 55 bB (day) and 45 dB (night) stated by the pollution control board.
Senior citizens and children are directly affected by these as in certain cases
the noise level can even reach 110 dB.
Water
Pollution
In recent
years, we have realised augmented consciousness about water pollution triggered
by visarjan i.e. immersion of Ganesh Idols in lakes, rivers and Sea which are
made out of Plaster of Paris (PoP) i.e. calcium sulphate hemi –hydrate. It
takes several months to totally dissolve Ganesh Idols made up of PoP into
water.
Also, colors
used in adornment of idols comprise harmful chemicals containing mercury, lead
which leaks into water as idol dissolves. It increases acid content, Total
Dissolved solids (TDS) and Heavy metals in water. It kills aquatic plants and
marine life, damaging ecosystem under water. Along with Idols several other
accessories are used in worship of Ganapati such as, flowers, fruits, coconuts,
incents, camphor, cloth, plastic, thermocol. Etc. It is collectively called as
Nirmalya.
Every year
government spends crores of rupees to clean and dig out tons of garbage from
natural water sources such as rivers, lakes etc.Google “religion” and “water pollution,” and you’ll see what I mean.
Death
during Visarjan
It may sound
strange to some but indeed there are noticeable number of demise during the visarjan.
Many don’t care them being to supera-spiritual. But if you read some specific news
feeds (because many other news agencies hide those incidents) following the day
of visarjan you can see how many people have died either by vehicle carried the
idol or drowning in the same water body where they drown the idols. A few could be traced through simple google search.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/kolkata/electrocuted-three-died-while-taking-ganesha-idol-for-immersion-in-kolkata/story-mxMWM6ZqmNbwmAg9CwZNGI.html
http://www.mid-day.com/articles/ganesh-ganesh-chaturthi-mumbai-news/17609165
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/tungabhadra-river-ganesh-immersion-ganpati-shivamogga-ganesha-visarjan/1/759360.html
http://odishasuntimes.com/2016/09/07/student-drowns-death-ganesh-idol-immersion-odisha/
Traffic
jam
Massive rise
in consumerism and idol procession during the festival causes traffic jam which
in turn escalates air and noise pollution.
These are
all ill effects of Ganapati festival and is essential for to know everyone, so
that it becomes easier to take initiatives to reduce bad effects of Ganesh
Chaturthi on environment.
Many measure
have been taken by government to bring awareness amongst people to minimize
impacts of festivals. Beside EPCO several NGO, Organizations are working hard
to make people realize harmful effects of Ganapati festival.
The
convenience of this material have made us habitual and we can’t resist them.
But the time has come to realise the bad effects of these material thus saving
our health and environment.
Thus two possible solutions are;
Option 1:
Banning out all the festivals which harms our ecosystem.
Option 2:
Celebrating them in eco-friendly ways.
While first
option may hurt many devotees (esp. the ones who don’t see the enormous harm
cause to nature), the second seems more feasible. I, through this article, don’t
blame the Hindu festivals in itself but I blame people trying to make easy
money and the people who don't care about the environment for short-term enjoyment
at the expense of long term harm to nature. And I appreciate a few people who are
eco-friendly in their approach to festivals.
Spreading the message of civic sense this Diwali might help to curb or at least limit the pollution levels. We must get our social act together before blaming it on local administrators and civic amenities.
Share this truth
with your dear ones because it’s important to know that we cannot make any god
happy if we destroy the gift of god; the nature.
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