bad effect of varius festival on the envirnoment

Joy of Ganesh Festival and Impact on Environment
Hemant Wakode|Life in India,Urbanisation and Water| October 8, 20121

Indian calendar is filled with lots of festivals and holidays considering different religions. Few days ago, Ganesh Festival or locally known as “Ganesh Chaturthy” was celebrated all over India and also abroad in some parts where majority of Indians are living. Originally it was celebrated by every hindu religious person by establishing a small idol of lord Ganesha in their homes and by offering prayers daily with their family and friends for 10 days. But during British rule, to encourage the fight for freedom among the people, one of the great Indian freedom fighter-Lokmanya Tilak used Ganesha Festival as a hidden way to gather people and to encourage them for the fight for freedom. After that, Ganesha festival became a big public event. Initially, it was celebrated only in the Maharashtra state of India but slowly it has spread all over the India. Even after the freedom from British rule, Ganesh festival is used as a noble cause to gather people and spread the awareness about different national issues through different symbolic imitations of historical or current political, environmental issues along with the idol of Ganesha. The organizations of youngsters, who will present a good message with most effectively and environment friendly gets award from the city council.
Pune city has always the most attractive and cultural imitations of different issues. Other attractive parts are the beautiful statues of lord Ganesh and the parade of these statues through the city along with beautifully dressed children and youngsters dancing and playing drums in synchronized order. As per tradition, the celebrants would be smothered with Gulal- a red powder during this parade. Even the bystanders may get coated by this red powder. After the parade, you can notice all the streets coated with this Gulal. This festival is Hindu religious festival but as it is a public event people from other religions also enjoy the fun.
Apart from all the fun and cultural integrity, the Ganesha festival also has some bad impact on environment. According to tradition, on the last day of festival, all the idols are immersed in the nearby lakes or rivers. It causes a pollution of these important water resources. Most of the idols are made of plaster of paris and painted with harmful chemical colours which are polluting the water bodies. Also, along with idols, there are other non-biodegradable accessories used during the worship which are also immersed in the water bodies. In big cities like, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad etc. where commercialization has took this festival to another level; the pollution caused by the devotees is on a very large scale. Hussain Sagar Lake located in Hyderabad city where the Ganesha festival is celebrated on small scale compared to megacities in Maharashtra state; more than 5000 Ganesha idols are immersed in this only one lake. (IndianToday.in, Oct. 6, 2012). The scenario of all the garbage in the lakes on next day after immersion ceremony is really bad.
Many environmentalists are trying to spread the awareness of this issue. They also work with government organizations to help them in cleaning. Some organizations are trying to make difference by making the festival as much eco-friendly as possible. But still, more efforts are needed from all the organizations to make this fun festival more environment friendly.