Green efforts come to naught, Yamuna bears brunt (Times of India 18 October 2010)

NEW DELHI: Once again, as Delhi celebrated, the Yamuna bore the brunt. Over 450 puja committees immersed idols of Durga, Saraswati, Laxmi, Ganesh and Kartikeya idols on Sunday and left behind a drain full of wooden debris, plastic bags, metal and other organic and inorganic waste. Though some committees tried to keep visarjan process as environmental-friendly as possible, most were seen carelessly tossing their plastic packets full of puja samagri into 'holy' waters of the Yamuna. By the evening, Yamuna ghats were full of idols floating in a mass of polythene bags, flowers and boxes of incense sticks. Puja committees from Mayur Vihar Phase I, Antaranga and C R Park's Pocket-52, were seen to be following environmental concerns. However, they were among the exceptions as most others did not even think twice before throwing the puja material into the river. Even though a special enclosure was constructed by the MCD to facilitate visarjan, most committees appeared ignorant and unconcerned. When asked why they were throwing plastic packets into the river, thereby polluting it, some sheepishly muttered apologies while others laughed and shrugged. This year, the ministry of forest and environment had asked puja committees to follow strict guidelines and use non-synthetic paint and eco-friendly materials. ''The ministry started talking to the committees three months in advance to ensure minimal pollution during visarjan. With the help of government agencies and NGOs, ministry asked the committees to keep the puja as environmentally-conscious as possible. Ten days ago, all the agencies were called for coordination purposes,'' said a senior environment official. In midst of the thoughtless dumping, there were a few puja committees that conscientiously separated flowers, weapons and plastic bags from their idols before bidding the goddess an adieu. Gurgaon's Bangiya Parishad built their idol with clay. ''We have not used synthetic paints. Even our weapons are made of thin paper. We deposited all our puja samagri into the enclosure — a very good measure initiated by the government,'' said puja committee joint secretary Malay Nandi. Members of C R Park's Mela Ground puja samiti said they are conducting the festival in an environmentally-sensitive way for the last few years now. ''For the last 2-3 years, we have been building a huge pit in the Mela Ground itself where we bury all the puja samagri. This year, we have used the enclosure that MCD provided,'' said puja committee vice-president Narayan Dey.