Clay idols gaining prominence

August 21, 2014 11:09 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 11:06 am IST - HYDERABAD:

An artisan from Kolkata giving finishing touches to an eco-friendly clay idol of the Lord Ganesha in Hyderabad on Thursday. Photo: K. Ramesh Babu

An artisan from Kolkata giving finishing touches to an eco-friendly clay idol of the Lord Ganesha in Hyderabad on Thursday. Photo: K. Ramesh Babu

Vinayaka Chaturthi festivities, scheduled to take off from August 29, could witness more number of eco-friendly idols being installed and later immersed in the water bodies of the city.

Over the last few years, the concept of clay Ganesha idols has been gaining popularity in the city and as in earlier years, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has now launched the Clay Ganesha Idol Campaign 2014-15.

The HMDA initiative aimed at protecting Hussainsagar lake and other water bodies in and around the city by preventing large scale immersion of idols prepared from Plaster of Paris (PoP) and chemical colours, provides clay idols of two different sizes – one suitable for installation at home by individuals and the other, a bigger idol for community installation by different associations.

The smaller eco-friendly clay idols are of eight inch size and offered at a subsidised price of Rs.13 each while the bigger ones of 3 ft can be procured for Rs.1,250 each. Interested individuals and associations were asked by the authority to place their requisitions in a specified proforma made available on its website ‘www.hmda.gov.in’.

“As idols made from PoP and painted with chemical colours are immersed in large numbers in water bodies, there have been concerns over the effects of pollution. We have been promoting clay idols for the last four years to help reduce the pollution of water bodies,” said an official.

Several NGOs and associations have also been getting actively involved for the last few years in promoting these clay idols during Vinayaka Chaturthi.

This year too, the Rotary Club of Greater Hyderabad has launched the Green Ganesha Project, in association with Jagisa Packaging Industries, to encourage clay idols and promote plastic free celebrations. The club president, Chandrasekhar, recently said they would be targeting to reach more people with 30,000 clay Ganesha idols on cost-to-cost basis to avoid pollution from PoP in water bodies.

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