Bengaluru: The National Green Tribunal had issued a notification dated May 9, 2013 banning Plaster of Paris (PoP) and coloured Ganesha idols.
Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) Chairman Dr. K Sudhakar said, “This year’s Ganesh Chathurthi will be a green festival. We are following guidelines to safeguard the environment to the best of our abilities. We are taking measures to avoid pollutants and ensure there is no damage done to the environment in the name of festival. I request the public to mindfully participate and see to it that they celebrate an eco-friendly Gowri-Ganesha festival.”
He further said “the district collectors have been informed to issue notices to all local organisations and villages not to prepare PoP, coloured idols and immerse them in any water body. If caught breaching the order, they will be punished”, he warned.
The Board has also issued instructions to dispose the remaining, undisposed PoP and coloured idols, found at localities under local bodies, at the solid waste disposal units that come under local bodies at a single landfill site.
The District Collectors have been asked to instruct the check post officers to stop the PoP idols entering the districts, taluks from other states.
The Board has conducted meeting with regional officials from all departments to follow the order and ask the idol makers to prepare colourless idols, without PoP. Some of the measures to be followed during festival are as below:
Not providing business licence to organisations/people selling PoP idols and initiating legal action against organisations or people making/selling idols without licence.
To make sure the public disposes colourless-clay idols at designated sites during the festival.
The wet waste must be segregated before immersing the colourless-clay idols next to mobile tanks or select water bodies.
Especially in Bengaluru, the lakes/temple ponds must be identified at every ward for immersion.
Forming committees at the ward-level with the police cooperation for disposal of Ganesha idols.
Permission to be granted only for idols that are maximum 5 feet tall.
Ganesha idols to be set up by committees only after obtaining permission from KSPCB, BBMP and Police Department.
The immersion of idols to be taken place at select water bodies and notification must be passed in this regard. Display of Ganesha idols for months to be banned.
