Dissolving a Problem

Durga Puja kicks off in October. And, West Bengal’s environment department has suggested a new method to reduce the massive pollution of water bodies due to the immersion of thousands of idols after the festival.

Durga Puja kicks off in October. And, West Bengal’s environment department has suggested a new method to reduce the  massive pollution of water bodies due to the immersion of thousands of idols after the festival.  The department now wants idols to be ‘dissolved’ with high-power water jets instead of being immersed, a practice initiated by two municipalities near Kolkata last year. The clay idols are taken to the river banks, and, after the completion of rituals, are disintegrated by water hoses. “This doesn’t leave behind a mess,” says Somnath Mukherjee, the chairman of Taki Municipality that pioneered this practice. “The spot where the idols are hosed down does get a bit slushy, but that’s only for a couple of days. Besides, the damage is nothing compared to the mess that rivers and ponds become after immersion. Also, the bamboo frame on which the idols are made can be re-used after the idols are dissolved,” Mukherjee adds.

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Jaideep Mazumdar