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BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, September 20, 2004: Despite a central government directive, Orissa has failed to take steps against icon immersion in the state’s water bodies. The failure to check this trend is leading to an environmental nightmare every festival season, say conservationists. About 1,000 small icons and 100 large icons from the cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack alone were immersed in the Kuakhai, Kathjodi and Mahanadi rivers during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival last week. Hundreds more such icons were immersed in other parts of the state. Thousands of icons will get a burial in water during the Durga Puja festival next month. It all adds up to a pollution disaster, says this article. The cheap lead and chrome-based paints used on these icons pollutes water bodies. They have been banned in many Western countries since they are hazardous chemicals, said Biswajit Mohanty, secretary of the Wildlife Society of Orissa. Similarly, the use of plaster of paris is also on the rise and many artists find the material easier to use than clay since it dries faster, he said. Plaster of paris is an insoluble powder and contaminates water-bodies by forming an impermeable layer on the river bottom that is harmful to aquatic plants and fish. Apart from the icons, people also throw large quantities of polythene bags, flowers, food offerings, decoration material, polish, clothes and cosmetics into the water, the environmentalist said.

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