Communities opt for planet-friendly Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations

Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam exudes festive charm as communities warm up to celebrate ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ on Monday (September 14). Here, preparations begin a little ahead of the festival as pandal organisers, communities, residents welfare associations focus on detailing and thematic decors. This year, pandal organisers have more reasons to rejoice because the State government declared free electricity for them across Andhra Pradesh, substantially minimising their celebration costs.

Street corners turn into a mini community hub as festival organisers bring out innovative idols to draw crowds. A 16-member team was busy for the past one month to design a 15-ft-tall Ganesh idol incorporating dried turmeric rhizomes. The idol was designed by Eco-friendly Ganesh Youth at Old Gajuwaka. About 300-kg of turmeric rhizomes have been utilised for the idol-making at the pandal where the festivities will continue for 11 days, informed Sai, festival organiser.

At Srinagar, Gajuwaka Ganesh Utsav is crafting the mammoth 117-ft ‘Sri Divya Kankana Alankara Maha Ganapathi’ by incorporating approximately one crore tinted glass bangles.

Every year, the festival organisers become as creative as possible to attract a large number of devotees. Near Aruna theatre at Kurmannapalem, the Elephant-headed God is getting ready with wheat grains.

Apart from the festival organisers, institutions and organisations team up to promote planet-friendly celebrations. Adding to eco-friendly celebrations, Divi’s Laboratories distributed 5,000 clay Ganesh idols worth Rs 1.5 lakh free of cost to the residents of Chippada, Gudivada, Annavaram, Nagamayyapalem and Mulakuddu in collaboration with Andhra Pradesh Pollution Cotnrol Board (APPCB).

Appreciating the responsible celebrations supported by Divi’s Laboratories director Devendra Rao, vice-president LV Ramana, among others, APPCB Chief Environmental Engineer S Shankar Naik encouraged communities to bring home clay idols and contribute to planet conservation.

Dissuading people from worshipping PoP idols, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation Commissioner Ketan Garg exhorted communities to go for clay idols to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi and become active partners in conserving the environment. Ahead of the festival, he gave away clay Ganesh idols to the public and GVMC employees.

Braving rain and wielding umbrellas, students of Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar distributed clay-based idols they crafted to the residents of MVP Colony.

Also, some of the artists in the city hosted clay model making workshops to encourage people to opt for sustainable festival celebrations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rani Devalla

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Rani Devalla is an experienced journalist specialised in a range of beats. From crime to politics, health to human interest, education to defence along with entertainment and feature stories, Rani Devalla, an accomplished writer with a passion for exploring diverse genres, has been reporting for the past 14 years. Serving as Bureau Chief of The Hans India in Visakhapatnam, Rani Devalla contributes to the organisation's editorial department through daily reporting, special stories and feature stories. After completing B.Com, Rani Devalla pursued Masters in Human Resource Management. Prior to joining The Hans India, Rani Devalla worked as a Principal Correspondent with The Hindu Group for six-and-a-half years. With rich expertise, she brings diverse perspectives to her reporting that makes her narratives stand out. When not immersed in writing, the journalist spends time reading, travelling and journaling.

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