Green Ganesha idols trending in twin cities

Hyderabad: With people getting conscious of the ill effects of pollutants on the environment, eco-friendly Ganesh idols have been gaining popularity year on year. This Ganesh chaturthi, Green Ganesh have become a favorite for the nature lovers. Several NGOs, Corporates and startups, schools and Ganesh idol manufactures in Hyderabad.

"This year we have already sold around 5,000 Ganesh and the sales will increase on the festival day. Irrespective of height, model and weight there is an increase in demand for green Ganeshas every year. This time due to lockdown norms, the Ganesh idols of 3 to 5 feet and little ones are high in demand unlike for 10 - 15 feet idols previous years," said Kailash Kumar mandal, Ganesh Idol manufacturer, Nallakunta.

"We used to get labourers from KolKata every year for manufacturing Ganesh idols but this year many workers refused to come due to corona fear and we have manufactured around 12,000 eco-friendly idols made from clay, paper, leaves and others. This time we have only clay and seed idols and customers are buying the latter ones," he added.

"We dont manufacture idols but import idols from other states like Kolkata, Karnataka and Maharastra. This time due to lockdown we have imported around 12,000 idols only compared to around 25,000 every year. Due to the pandemic the demand for Ganesh idols have fallen drastically," said Vaishnavi, GM, Sri Vaishnavi Eco -friendly Ganesh idols, Nagole. "We only produce eco friendly ganesh idols to prevent environment pollution," she added.

"Maintaining social distancing and taking proper precautions several NGOs has come together to make eco-friendly Ganesh idols and the main aim is to adopt eco-friendly measures in our activities. We have manufactured around 500 idols with the help of a few volunteers," said Abhay Joshi, Founder, NGO Revolution.

A large number of idols are made of Plaster of Paris (PoP), sometimes with plastic and cement, too. PoP which has calcium sulphate hemihydrate is said to take years to fully dissolve in water. They reduce oxygen in the water, putting aquatic life in peril. It is heartening to note that people are increasingly becoming green consciousness and choosing clay idols over POP idols or those clay idols with chemical colours.