It’s PoP culture! Hopes of Green Ganesha sink

Bengaluru: The festival of the much loved Elephant God, Ganesha is here again and the city will soon be taken over by devotees erecting pandals in various localities and collecting donations to celebrate with the massive idols installed in them. The police will, as always,  be out in force around the water tanks, where the idols are taken in  procession to be immersed.

But with the festival frenzy taking over, the authorities appear to be once again struggling to enforce the ban on use of Plaster of Paris (PoP) Ganesha idols that are harmful to the environment both because of the nature of the material, which is slow to dissolve in water and  the toxic paints used to decorate them.

Imposed by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) in 2014, the ban covers selling and manufacturing of the PoP idols, but going by the display of  idols across the city, it is clearly not working.

Although  the BBMP has served notices to  idol manufacturers prohibiting the manufacture and sale of PoP Ganeshas, the sellers in Wilson Garden have no qualms about carrying on as usual, and seem to have no fear of being raided by the civic authority.

“I have PoP Ganesha idols worth Rs 500,000 in my warehouse. Most of the other  sellers in Pottery Town too need to clear last year's leftover stock.   So we are continuing to sell them, especially as there is hardly any demand for clay idols,” says Mr Madan, an idol manufacturer in Pottery Town, where the PoP idols are openly displayed for public viewing. The scene is similar in Wilson Garden where PoP Ganesha idols are on display as usual as the manufacturers vie to attract buyers. Ask one of them if he is  scared of the authorities  raiding him and  he says, “Nobody has raided us till  now and no one will. We are selling the PoP idols because there is a huge demand for them.” 

One seller offered to sell PoP idols of different sizes for a price  going up to Rs 32,000. Ask chairman of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, (KSPCB),  Laxman about the open sale of PoP Ganesha idols in the city and he admits the sellers will want to clear their old stock, but claims the board is keen on stepping up enforcement of the ban this year.  “Last year we were able to curb sale of PoP idols by 60 per cent, but this year we are hoping to enforce it 100 per cent with the help of civic authorities,” he stresses.

The board had given some leeway to  idol manufacturers last year with a warning that Section 33 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 would be strictly enforced in 2017.  Whether it will keep its word remains to be seen.

It has, however, taken another  step to prevent pollution of water bodies. This year mobile immersion tanks for the Ganesha idols will be available at 32 locations across the city to prevent the bigger water bodies from being polluted.