The electioneering to the Kerala Assembly will take a heavy toll on the ecology of the State with huge quantities of hazardous materials being used for the campaign.
All the three major political fronts and candidates together have used over 30 lakh sq.ft. of flex for the outdoor publicity during the first phase of campaign, according to an estimate by the sign printing industry sources. The material is used mostly for billboards, banners and festoons for decoration. With the electioneering picking up, more candidates and parties would tend to use the material. Huge flex boards, some running into the length of 50 feet and height of 20 feet, pronouncing the political punch lines could be seen at all vantage points in the State. It is the ruling UDF combine that is leading in the use of flex boards and they might have already used around 6 lakh sq.ft. publicity material closely followed by the LDF and the NDA. At least 72,000 kg of flex sheets would be used specifically for electioneering. It is mostly the ‘260 gram flex’ that is used for outdoor publicity, according to industry sources.
After the big-sized billboards, the small cut-outs featuring the election symbols and photographs of candidates and political messages are also widely used in the election. Flex sheets, which are produced by Indian companies are used in the business. Flex sheets, which are made by quoting PVC over cloth, have replaced the cloth banners as they are durable and give good results. The industry also directly supported over three-lakh persons, said Narayanan Mohan, general secretary of the Sign Printing Industries Association.
Sound and air pollution associated with the electioneering have gone unchecked as microphones blare out promises and criticisms throughout the day and late into the night.
Mr. Narayanan observed that flex was reused widely in the State after the ad purpose. Large quantities of the used material are shipped to Tamil Nadu to replace the tarpaulin. It is also used to create bags in some parts of the State. It could be granulled and used along with bitumen for road making. Some industrial units recycling flex sheets had started functioning in north India, which would minimise the ill-effects, said Mr. Mohan.
V.S. Vijayan, former chairman of the Kerala State Biodiversity Board, felt disturbed by the trend. Though there were lonely voices from political party leaders, it seemed to have created minimal impact as candidates tend to use more of the material. Despite being aware of its ill-effects, political parties are using it, he said.
