Pune: Easily soluble Ganapati idols all the rage

PUNE: Thousands of families from the city have opted for environment-friendly Ganapati idols that can be easily immersed at home, in order to avoid stepping out amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Not only are families choosing to conduct the immersion at home, they are also preferring home delivery of idols or do-it-yourself (DIY) kits to make idols at home and minimize contact with people.
Idols made using seeds, tree bark, alum and terracotta clay are witnessing higher demand this year as compared to Plaster of Paris (PoP) or even clay idols.
Amruta Andre, who usually conducts Ganapati-making workshops, has worked on DIY Ganapati kits this year. “I had the material at home as I conduct workshops every year so we decided to launch kits. We provide terracotta clay as shadu or regular clay is harmful for trees and cannot be used otherwise. We also provide seeds, fertilizer and a tutorial video on idol-making. As the festival nears, the enquiries have increased. We are getting at least 10 to 15 bookings each day,” she explained.
Prashant Raul, partner at Green Window Solutions, said that after researching for over 18 months, they have launched idols made of alum with Dolphin Chemical, owned by Mayur Dhake. “PoP and clay are dangerous for the rivers. Alum is used widely in water purification and we moulded idols that can be immersed at home. The idol will completely dissolve in about 10 hours. The liquid alum can be used in portions to cleanse water in tanks at residential complexes or it can be donated to the civic authorities,” Raul explained.
A city-based working professional Sheetal Rathod said that an eco-friendly idol is perfect for immersion at home. “While we will celebrate in a low-key manner this year, we have also planned to conduct symbolic visarjan at our residence. We plan to use the clay from the idol to plant seeds in our garden,” she explained.