Heavenly Pollution

Causing a stink and pollution in the name of god.

- T. Rajagopalan

Perhaps the most aesthetic Hindu festival that takes place for 10 days is Ganesh Chaturthi. In the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad on that festive occasion, legions of artistic and colourfully lighted pandals are erected and the multicoloured idols of Lord Ganesh are installed. These idols fashioned out of clay and plaster of Paris are of different, sizes and exquisitively embellished in multicoloured clothings and jewellery that provide such a feast to the eyes of the beholder. These idols are worshipped for 10 days, the priests uttering incantations and delicious eatables being distributed to those who attend the pujas.

After the expiry of these 10 eventful days these idols are taken out in a glittering procession to the lakes and dumped into the waters. In Hyderabad where I have been living for upwards of five decades, I have been watching the dumpings of these magnificently made idols of the god with the help of huge cranes to lift them from the pedestals and lowering them into the waters of the lake.

The Hussain Sagar linking Hyderabad and Secunderabad alone receives around 3500 metric tonnes of festival waste that once adorned the idols. These enormous wastes causing a stink and pollution are equivalent to the quantum of garbage generated in the entire twin cities in one day. Albeit the environmental body of Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) dredges out the solid waste which include the idols but the chemical pollutants – the arsenic lead and mercury and myriad other paints and varnishes discharged in the water – cause untold disturbances in the ecological equilibrium.