THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The environment concerns that Ganeshotsav raises have grown manifold as around a lakh Ganesha idols are expected to be immersed in water bodies across the state on August 25.
The celebration which was formally introduced in 1991 with the immersion of a single idol at Shangumughom beach here has become too popular with the immersion of not fewer than 65,000 idols across the state by 2014.
However, the use of toxic paints and plaster of paris statues by a section of devotees in recent years has prompted the Pollution Control Board to start issuing guidelines, said PCB senior environmentalist K.R. Santhosh Kumar.
As per experts and guidelines across the country, idols made purely of clay should be used. The ones made of plaster of paris should be avoided and they should be either colourless or made with natural colours.
“Only small idols should be immersed and if big ones are used, they should be salvaged by those who immerse them and not by the government. Keralites should be careful as we live in a sensitive coastal area where toxic materials and carbon from across Arabian sea generally get accumulated,” said activist Eloor Purushan.
The Ganeshotsav Trust has declared that eco-friendly statues made of chalk powder and coconut husk will be used in their idols. Off late, other states have started encouraging immersions in buckets in one’s own houses.
“You get idols made of clay at Karamana- Chalai,” said Trust Mukhya Karyadarshi M.S. Bhuvanachandran.
Around 32 different types of idols are being made by artisans from Thanchvoor and Rajasthan at eight locations across the state on behalf of Ganeshotsav committee.
The festival will be observed between August 16 and 25 and the immersion happens on the final day. The public Ganeshotsav festival was introduced in 1892 in Pune.
