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Green
Idols to Save our River's and Lake's
  Shri
Anil Madhav Dave, Environmentalist & Member of Parliament, Secretary
Narmada Samagra has urged people to install eco-friendly idols of
Ganesh and Durga ji during the coming festivities to save the Narmada
and other water bodies from pollution.
He is planning
to start a campaign that will stretch from Amarkantak where the Narmada
originates to Barauch in Gujarat where it flows into the Arabian sea.
He said he started the campaign from Indore because Ganesh Chaturthi
and Navratri are celebrated on a big scale in the city and his aim
was to sensitize the people. He also wants to spread the message in
other major cities as well.
Social organizations
in Barwaha, Barwani, Mandleshwar, have started patrolling the banks
of Narmada to stop immersion of idols to check pollution, he said.
 Another
element of the campaign will be to stop felling of trees in Dindori
and Mandla districts which form the catchment areas of the Narmada.
He said idols
made from Plaster of Paris and then painted with colours containing
chemicals are polluting our rivers. “ If we use the water of
the river or lakes where these idols have been immersed to water your
plants , they will die. And if you drink that water, you are sure
to get stomach ailments.” Yet he rued, we are using these idols
and the craze to build bigger idols is leading to bigger problems.
 He
says people should use earth metal or stone to make the idols.
“Our
grandparents used to make idols at home and paint them with natural
colours. I want to restart that tradition, ” He said. He is
also planning to hold small workshops in the city to teach children
how to make idols and use natural colours to paint them. “ This
will make children more creative . Dave
said he is not against festivities on a grand scale. “ I am
only saying that the idols should be small and eco-friendly, the processions
that accompany them can be as big as they can be”. He said.
Adding that,
He also had a meeting with a number of NGOs in the city and urged
them to join the movement. He said it is not possible for any government
to stop river pollution unless people take it up as a movement.
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