Source: www.hindu.com
BANGALORE, INDIA, September 16, 2010: Though government agencies have over the past few years appealed to residents to use eco-friendly Ganesha murtis to immerse in local rivers — that is, those made of clay — till last year, the response had been poor. But this year, 58.3 per cent of the 3,700 murtis immersed in the 13 mobile immersion vans operated by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) on Ganesh Chaturti were eco-friendly murtis. That is, no less than 2,158 murtis were made of clay, a leap from 2009 and a bout of ecological good news.
Officials of the KSPCB, which ran a sustained media and general awareness campaign imploring people to “drop toxic lead-based paints”, are over the moon. “This is very heartening news. It means that people are becoming more environmentally conscious. Immersion of Ganesh murtis can be a completely pleasant affair if people revert to the traditional clay murtis,” a KSPCB official said.