If you are not eco-friendly, you will have to pay the price, literally.
This seems the fate of a group of idol-makers camping temporarily at Urapakkam, with officials sticking to the rules laid down by the pollution control boards.
Intervention by the Guduvancherry police at the eleventh hour has ensured that a bunch of idols remains unsold. A few idols were sold from the unit earlier.
Every year, a group of north-Indian doll manufacturing artisans camp at Urapakkam for four to five months, coinciding with the Hindu festival season, starting from Gokulashtami to Navarathri, and manufacture dolls of gods in different sizes and varieties, using materials such as banned Plaster-of-Paris.
This year, according to the artisans, orders for large-sized Vinayakar idols were take up, and some idols were delivered on time.
However, they landed in trouble two days prior to Vinayaka Chathurthi, which fell on August 29.
A team of policemen visited the unit on August 27, and ordered the artisans to stop the shipping of large-sized idols stating they had received complaints from some people that the large-sized idols were made using non-eco-friendly materials, and chemical-based paints were used to give the finishing touches.
Local policemen have been posted on duty to ensure no idols are moved out of the shed until Chathurthi celebrations are over.
When contacted, a senior police officer said no case had been filed against the artisans by the local police since they had received oral complaints only.
However, the decision to prevent the sale of large-sized idols had been taken to safeguard waterbodies from pollution, he said.
Further, the artisans have been directed to dispose the unsold idols without harming the environment.
