Festivals Becoming Bane for Environment - A Big Concern For Environmentalists

Again the festival season is round the corner and the excitement is in the air. But for the environmentalists and the environment conscious
along with the excitement, there is a big matter of concern. With the joy and excitement, the concern is about the increasingly non-eco-friendly way of celebrating festivals. More of all, must concern is that, during the festival season, the most affected are the water bodies and it is not just the concern of the environmentalists but it is slowly becoming a global issues.

According to the tradition, after the festival end

s, the idol is to be immersed in the water bodies. But due to the modern day changes, the material used for making the idol brings a serious threat to the water bodies and it impacts at large to the amphibians and the creatures and environment at large.

“Earlier idols were made or recyclable material like wood and bamboo, hay and clay and the vegetable dyes were used to paint the idols, but now a day’s synthetic paints are used and other heavy metals are used and with the immersion of the idols, the toxic chemicals are released into the water, which affects the food chain. More of all, there is no effective means to take out these toxic chemicals from the water," Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (Research and Advocacy) and head of the air pollution team of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) told IANS.

More of all, the celebration has doubled and from earlier, the pandals have double the number and is increasing with the year. In Hyderabad, the Ganesh Festival was celebrated with much fervor and the environmentalists and the municipal corporation was concerned about the water bodies, especially one of the Hyderabad’s landmarks, the Hussain Sagar Lake.

The Municipal Corporation and the Environmentalist have encouraged the practice of traditional method of celebration, more of all to decrease the height and length of the idol, so that It can be immersed into the household level. Though to certain extent it has worked, but as the festivals comes with the religious sentiments of the people, forces cannot be used nor can anything as such be levied in a country like India.

In some places, people are deployed to take out the idol once the idol is immersed into the water, but this at large does not help. More of all, Amita Khurana, a doctor in Delhi also pointed that the effects is not just restricted to water bodies, but during the festival time, the noise pollution rises up.

“During the festival season, especially during Diwali and Dusshera, many people suffer from breathing problems and eye pain due to the thick smog that hangs in the air. Millions of thanks go to the fire crackers. Those with asthama, the old and the children are the worst affected. The smog in Delhi remains for a week and the visibility during the festival season comes down to less them meters, bringing so many casualties. There is very high risk of driving during Puja due to the heavy smog created by the fire crackers. Along with human being, animals also suffer added Khurana.

Some groups of conscious people are taking initiative to make the festival eco-friendly and they are following the religious texts to make the idol. In Hyderabad too, instead of big idols, people are trying to bring home smaller clay idol for the Ganesh festival, which can be immersed in the bucket of water and the waters used for the immersion can be again re-use for watering plants and flowers.

Well, today most of the people have been enticed by the glittering and the fashionable trends, leaving way back miles away to our roots where festival has its essence. We need to be more conscious and revisit the roots for inspiration, “Ravi Reddy a teacher in the city, said.