Subscribe Now! Get features like
A mandal in Fort -- Shree Ashtavinayak Mitra Mandal – took the concept of eco-friendly celebrations to another level. Not only did they keep their decorations eco-friendly, but they also made a 22-ft green idol of the Lord.
The idol, sitting cross-legged on a lotus flower, has been painted using water colour, which easily dissolves in the sea without harming the marine eco-system. “Our idea was to show that you don’t need to use plaster of Paris (PoP) to make 20-ft tall idols. We have replicated the look of the idols placed by Ganesh Galli and Lalbaug mandals in their inaugural year,” said Ravi Shetty, mandal president.
Read: From chocolate to cow dung, Ganpati to come in all forms this time
Six hundred A4 size papers were used to mould the bamboo to make the idol. “The process took nearly two months, after which we got 35mm synthetic grass from Kalyan and Koparkhairne. It was stuck on the idol using natural gum,” said Shetty, adding natural grass could not be used owing to inadequate water and sunlight in the pandal.
The idol will be stripped of the artificial grass and the bamboo used to build the frame will be immersed at Girgaum Chowpatty on Thursday. “PoP idols leave deposits on the seabed, which is harmful to marine life. We request all mandals to shift to eco-friendly idols and compete for the best idol in this category next year,” said Shetty.
Read: Demand for eco-friendly idols rises
Officials from the state pollution control board identified the mandal as eco-friendly crusaders.
“For the past five years, this mandal has been making eco-friendly idols with an average height of 20-ft using clay or paper pulp. The concept is fantastic as they are challenging famous mandals to shift to environment-friendly ways of celebrating the festival,” said Sanjay Bhuskute, public relations officer, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board.
Badri Chatterjee is an environment correspondent at Hindustan Times, Mumbai. He writes about environment issues - air, water and noise pollution, climate change - weather, wildlife - forests, marine and mangrove conservation ...view detail
19 furnish fake gunthewari docus, Hadapsar sub-registrar office lodges 7 FIRs
The Hadapsar sub-registrar office on September 3 lodged seven FIRs against 19 persons for submitting bogus gunthewari papers and forged non-agriculture documents. The sub- registrars office has stated that their office including building permissions department have been cheated by the accused. The IGR office in April had ordered a probe into the alleged 112 cases related to bogus non-agricultural land documents registered recently in office number 3 during the past few months.
Global Village Idiot: How to build a meal around four mushrooms
Earlier this week, I woke up at 5.45 one morning, made chai and strolled around the terrace wondering what to rustle up for breakfast for the family since it was my turn cooking. The chai is an important part of my day. The smell of newsprint is intoxicating. I am learning to brew a potent ginger chai and usually have three-and-a-half mugs of it within the first two hours of waking up.
Sufficient material available to prosecute Raj Kundra in porn app case: Police
The Mumbai police have objected to the discharge plea filed by Raj Kundra claiming that sufficient material is available to establish a prima facie case against businessman Raj Kundra, accused of developing a mobile application to air pornographic content to paid subscribers. On Thursday, the prosecution said that the grounds raised by Kundra's lawyers were not enough to discharge him. The prosecution also relied on Kundra's business associate Sourabh Kushwah's statement.
Bengal govt, UNICEF engage self-help groups to curb child marriages
The West Bengal government in collaboration with UNICEF will form child-friendly 'sanghas' (clusters), comprising members of self-help groups, to curb child marriage and teenage pregnancy in the state, which is the highest in the country. West Bengal is at the top in cases of child marriage and teenage pregnancy, according to a National Family Health Survey report.
Jharkhand man held for allegedly setting youngster on fire
A man in Kasmuddin's 60s was arrested on Saturday for allegedly setting a youngster on fire in Chitashram village under Nagar Untari police station limits in Jharkhand's Garhwa district on Friday night, police said. Deepak is out of danger while the accused Kasmuddin has been arrested. Dr. Amit Kumar, who treated Deepak at Garhwa district hospital, said the victim was currently out of danger.
Personalise your news feed. Follow trending topics