DHUBRI, Oct 8 - At a time when government and the concerned individuals are urging people to make the ensuing Durga Puja clean, green and environment-friendly, the artisan who is making eco-friendly idols out of waste products has not found any taker.
Dhubri-based artisan Pradip Kumar Ghosh has been making environment-friendly Durga idols since years to promote reuse of waste products and eco-friendly items. Each year this artisan comes up with a new concept of making Durga idols and is known for creating such idols with sugarcane wastes, discarded cycle tubes, plastic bottles etc. This year this artisan is making a Durga idol out of waste coconut leaves.
�It took three-and-a-half months to create an idol out of waste products. This year I have made such an idol out of dried coconut leaves,� said Ghosh. �But I have seen very less enthusiasm among Puja committees towards buying this idol,� he said.
He also said that idols which are made in a completely eco-friendly-manner are generally unattractive due to which people are not willing to take it for display. �These idols which take more time and dedication to make are often used to spread the message of cleanliness and promote reuse of waste products. And they can not be made colourful and attractive by decorating them with plastic accessories,� added Ghosh, who also said that less demand of such products are discouraging emerging artisans like him, who take the opportunity of the festival to promote social issues.
Meanwhile, another artisan of Dhubri, Sanjib Basik is also making a massive 10-foot high and 14-foot wide Durga idol out of match sticks, which he will display at a Puja mandap at ward no. 3, Dhubri town by Vivekananda Club Puja Committee. �It took three-and-a-half months and almost two lakhs match sticks to create this idol,� added Basak.
Meanwhile, the administration has asked the Puja committees to educate the pandal hoppers with massages relating to the ongoing �Swachch Bharat Abhiyan�.
In a meeting held recently between the officials of district administration and members of Puja committees of the district, presided over by ADC Surma Ali, the committee members were asked to instal separate dustbins for wet garbage and dry garbage. The administration has also asked the Puja committees to take full advantage of the puja gatherings towards promoting cleanliness and hygiene in the district by installing banners and posters, informed DIPRO Dhubri, Bikash Sharma.
It was also informed that there will be 373 public puja mandaps in the entire district of Dhubri, out of which 287 mandaps are in Dhubri subdivision. The administration has also notified the committees to discard plastic and use environment-friendly colours in the idols.
