With Durga Puja pandals across the country expected to be grander and decorative, some are choosing to be eco-friendly and raising awareness on climate change and pollution.
A Durga Puja committee in West Bengal’s Siliguri designed pandal on the theme of water conservation to raise awareness among children. In Bhubhaneshwar, Puja committees have been asked to ban the use of plastic in all 170 pandals and to offer prasad in plates of ‘Sal leaves’. The Baroyari Durga Puja Committee in Guwahati has made the idol and the structure of pandal from recycled waste, peanut shells, wood-apple husks etc.
At a pandal in East Delhi, the Durga Puja idols are made of recycled materials including steel scraps, aluminium cans, glass and wood. Dibrugarh’s Mitra Sangh Durga Puja showcased the eco-friendly life of Adivasis as a check towards global warming.
