Municipal Commissioner S. Venkatakrishna on Tuesday exhorted people to celebrate the Vinayaka Chaviti festival by installing environment-friendly clay idols.
Launching a campaign in coordination with voluntary organisations, he said all people should follow the traditional practice of installing Ganesh idols made of natural clay, which has been in vogue for centuries, so that they completely dissolve in water after immersion without causing any harm to the environment.
“We have roped in voluntary organisations who have come forward to make available at least 400 big clay idols to wean away people who are used to installing plaster of Paris (PoP) Ganesh idols of late,” he said.
Free idol distribution
Idols made of PoP defeated the very purpose of dissolving the idol in water after the festival as per the age-old religious practice, he pointed out.
The Commissioner suggested that people should give up the tendency of competing with each other over putting up big size Ganesh idols made of PoP in their localities.
Meanwhile, Volunteer Environmental Organisation chairman G.Veerabhadrachari said a clay idol production centre started by it would produce 6,000 clay idols and distribute them free of cost in different parts of the city to facilitate eco-friendly celebrations.
