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Tech campus at forefront of lake cleansing campaign
The catchphrase is once again an eco-friendly Ganesh festival as the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and residents of Powai focus on protecting the Powai Lake that literally turns into an immersion tank for thousands of idols of the Hindu deity each year.
- By Pamela Raghunath, Correspondent
- Published: 23:32 August 19, 2008
Mumbai: The catchphrase is once again an eco-friendly Ganesh festival as the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and residents of Powai focus on protecting the Powai Lake that literally turns into an immersion tank for thousands of idols of the Hindu deity each year.
The activists are banking on idols made with mud sourced from the banks of the water body rather than the colourful Plaster of Paris images that are immersed at the end of the 10-day festival.
In central Mumbai - Parel, Lalbaug, Dadar and Matunga - festivities are marked by huge idols.
Environmentalists have been harping on using idols that avoid toxic paints to reduce their impact on marine life in the city's water bodies and the sea.
"IIT Bombay along with the campus residents and those from neighbouring areas will celebrate Navsrujan Ganesh Mahotsav 2008 in its unique, signature style from August 24-31," says Jaya Joshi, public relations officer, IIT.
Organisers of the special celebrations are also emphasising that the tradition of the Ganesh idols originates from the philosophy of surrendering to nature what is taken from it. Only natural colours will be used for the idols.
This year, the week-long event will feature several public awareness workshops on making Ganesh idols out of the Powai Lake soil and exhibitions on Environment Protection will be held on the IIT campus, Joshi said.
Joining in the activities will be students from IIT Campus School, Kendriya Vidyalaya, IIT Powai, Hiranandani Foundation School, Bombay Scottish School, S.M. Shetty School, Jindal Vidya Mandir and several municipal schools in the locality.
Powai Lake has been adversely affected by industrial effluents and sewage flowing from nearby slums and residential complexes. Though it was included with 21 other lakes in the National Lake Conservation Programme of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in 1995, little was done to protect it until the local people took it on themselves.
In 2001, a human chain was formed around the lake on Republic Day to draw the attention of state authorities and in 2003, the Navsrujan project was started. It got a boost through a sponsorship from the IIT Bombay class of 1980 as part of their heritage project to revive the lake.
Results encouraging
Efforts to restore the Powai Lake to its former self have helped cut flow of pollutants by 80 per cent, says IIT Bombay Public Relations Officer Jaya Joshi. Water quality has greatly improved and aquatic weeds have been controlled by means of a $1.5 million project of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The public response can be gauged from the response to the Young Environmentalists Programme, with over 600 students coming together for an eco-Ganesha event on August 2.
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