Gujarat's bid for cleaner Ganesha

India's Gujarat state government has issued guidelines to try to stem water pollution during the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi due in late August.

Thousands of elephant-headed Ganesha idols, big and small, are immersed in lakes and rivers after the festival.

Environmentalists say these idols contain toxic chemicals which cause serious pollution to water bodies.

Ganesh Chaturthi is a major Hindu festival primarily celebrated in western and southern India.

'Use clay'

The new guidelines, originally prepared by India's Central Pollution Control Board and reproduced by its Gujarat state counterpart, have been sent to district officials for implementation.

From now on Ganesha idols should be made of clay and not of plaster of Paris - a fine white chemical powder which solidifies when mixed with water.

Environmentalists say plaster of Paris takes longer to dissolve; it also reduces the oxygen level in the water resulting in the death of a large number of fish.

Clay, on the other hand, dissolves quickly and does not harm aquatic life.

The pollution control board has also appealed to the organisers of the festival to commission smaller idols which dissolve more easily in water.

The authorities have also asked that all plastics and other insoluble ornaments put on the idols are removed before they are immersed.

'Too late'

The guidelines also advise the idol-makers to use natural colours instead of chemicals for painting the statues.

Environmentalists in Gujarat have by and large welcomed the guidelines, but they say they have come a bit too late to have any impact this year.

''The making of idols starts five months before the festival," says environmentalist Mahesh Pandya. "By now most of the idols are ready and they have already been procured by worshippers. It would have been better if the guidelines had been issued earlier."

Mr Pandya has also called for an awareness campaign ahead of the festival to make the idol-makers aware of the hazards of using chemical paints and plaster of Paris.

The festival, due in the last week of August, will see thousands of Ganesha idols immersed in Kankaria Lake in Ahmedabad, Sursagar Lake in Baroda and the Sabarmati river.