Enjoy eco-friendly Durga Puja this year

Every year, thousands of tonnes of offerings (including idols) of Durga Puja are immersed in the Hooghly river, which drastically increases pollution, endangering marine and human life.

Toxic paints (of idols), non-biodegradable wastes like plastic flowers and solid wastes like idol frames are thrown into the water. So far, the pollution- control authorities have been finding it difficult to check the pollution level of the river.

To check the toxic waste level, idol makers of Kumartuli, the nerve centre of clayidol makers in Kolkata, this year, are using a unique eco-friendly technique. They are using a special paint free from lead, mercury and chromium to embellish the idols. One of the leading paint companies has specially formulated these ecofriendly paints. Efforts are also on to convince the puja organisers not to dump the non- biodegradable waste in the river.

Similarly, some of the puja pandals are quickly replacing their conventional incandescent bulbs with the newage, environment- friendly light emitting diode (LED) lamps to produce dazzling illumination.

The famous Singhi Park puja Committee will showcase its theme of the national flowers of India, Ukraine and England through scintillating LED lighting. They also created a huge Gorilla with lights.

Goddess Durga is arriving on a palanquin this year. As Bengal is gearing up for the festivities of Durga Puja, the people are anxious. What is going to happen? The arrival of the Goddess of Shakti on a palanquin signifies an outbreak of epidemic.

The people of Bengal are already dejected with the unstable political theatre as the ruling Left Front and the opposition Trinamool Congress are at loggerheads, and are making life wretched for everyone. And now, if there is an epidemic, the euphoria of Puja festivities will be gone. Durga Puja is the biggest festival in Bengal, and is also said to be the largest celebrated religious festivals in the world.

Durga Puja this year is already lacklustre in rural areas in central and southern parts of Bengal.

The state, which is the country's largest rice producer, has already been badly hit by a drought. The economy in the rural areas has collapsed, prices of essential commodities have sky-rocketed, and several poor farmers have committed suicide.

The poor farmers are unable to buy new anything for their family members for Durga Puja this year. The state government had to declare 11 districts as drought-hit due to deficit rainfall.

More than 1.1 million hectares of paddy crops have been affected out of 4.4 million hectares of Kharif season because of the drought. The loss was estimated to be above Rs 5,000 crore. The far- western district of Purulia was recorded to be the worst-hit in the drought.

Caught in the ghastly situation, rural Bengal will not be able to endure any more calamities.

Some of the villages in South 24- Parganas district, which were worst- hit by Aila (the killer cyclone) last year, are yet to recover their losses, as the implementation of government's relief and rehabilitation package was a total failure.

Even in Kolkata, the situation is not hunky- dory. People complained that the government did not do anything to improve the civic amenities during the run up to Durga Puja. There is little hope that the city's arterial and most frequently used roads will be repaired within the next one week.

While the Kolkata Municipal Corporation ( KMC) has taken up repair on some of the major thoroughfares in the inner city, conditions of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass and the Diamond Harbour Road are in an awful state. Bureaucratic red tapeism, and political feuds between the state Public Works Department (PWD) and KMC over jurisdiction have delayed the repair works.

Price- rise has also affected the budget of most of the Puja organisers. Even prices of Durga idols have sky- rocketed as sharp rise in the costs of the inputs have added to the woes of the idol makers. Prices of idols have gone up by 10 to 15 percent in Kolkata and the other towns.

Cost of bamboo has almost doubled from Rs 50 to 55 a year ago to Rs 100 to Rs 110 per piece this year. The price of hay (used to stuff the idols), has shot also up from Rs 100 per bundle to Rs 180.

The drought resulted in poor harvest, which in turn, doubled the price of hay in the markets.

Moreover, paint prices have gone up by 20 percent.

Moreover, Maoist-insurgency has crippled life in the rural areas of Bengal's Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore districts. The festive spirit of Durga Puja in the insurgencyravaged districts is at an alltime low as people are scared about Maoist attacks.

The only silver- lining for the woes in Bengal is that Goddess Durga, this year would depart on an elephant. The Goddess's departure on an elephant signifies good harvest. After all, Goddess Durga is supremely radiant, and can redeem situations of utmost distress. Will she bless everyone this year?

As the Durga Puja fever begins to soar in Kolkata, unscheduled onset of latemonsoon has pushed the Puja schedule out of gear.

In the last few weeks it seemed that the monsoon had retreated. But Monday onwards Puja shopping turned out to be a damp-squib as the skies opened up with a heavy spells of rain.

Though the monsoon was on the retreat, the Met officials claim that low pressure could develop to bring in heavy showers in the next one week. Location- specific showers due to development of thunder clouds have also been predicted.

This does not bode well for the Puja. With Puja barely sevendays away, the Met office is unsure of how the weather would behave during peak celebration days. It will probably require Kolkatans to pray hard to the rain god to leave the city dry at least during the festival.