Despite the Allahabad High Court banning image immersion, the practice is still on. It’s not just the duty of the Government but also society to protect our rivers from pollution. The ban should be implemented across the country
The country is in a festive mood, though in Varanasi, an unnecessary dispute has taken place over the immersion of images of lord Ganesh, after the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. Police had to be called for necessary action, and many people were injured. This is a sad state of affairs. In fact, the Allahabad High Court had imposed a total ban on immersion of images in the Ganga.
This ban has been in force since the judgement was delivered in 2013. At the same time, the High Court had directed the State Government to provide or create an alternative place for the immersion of images, after the festival is over.
A section of the people and some sadhus were critical of this judgement. On the contrary, they should have welcomed the decision of the High Court. It was a landmark verdict in view of rising pollution of rivers, which includes the Ganga and the Yamuna. As a matter of fact, this decision should be implemented all over the country.
Right from Ganesh utsav to Durga puja and Kali puja, lakhs of images are immersed in rivers and seas. It goes without saying that these immersions are polluting the river and the sea enormously. On the one hand, there are campaigns to clean the rivers, and on the other, there is the practice of image-immersion. Both cannot go hand-in-hand.
Noteworthy is the fact that a few years ago, the Central Pollution Control Board had carried out a detailed study of the polluting effects on the Hooghly river in Kolkata, after immersions of images of the deity, Durga.
The report served as an eye- opener. Every year, approximately 15,000 images are immersed in the Hooghly, after Durga puja. More than 17 tonnes of varnish, paint and chemical get dissolved in the water. These have high content of dangerous compounds like lead, manganese and chromium.
The judgement by Justice Ashok and Justice Arun Tandon of the Allahabad High Court, prohibiting immersion in the Ganga and the Yamuna, should serve as a guiding force for everyone across the country to keep a check on the growing level of water pollution in the country. Unfortunately, this did not happen.
The recent violence in Varanasi was against the judgement of the High Court. This should not have happened. We are all duty-bound to obey and follow judicial verdicts. If we defy judicial rulings, the country will plunge into chaos.
Till recently, only images of Durga were immersed in the rivers. Earlier, the Ganesh utsav celebrations were limited to Maharashtra and its borders, but of late it is being celebrated across the country, thanks to the media blitz.
This year, in Delhi alone, hundreds of Ganesh images were immersed in the Yamuna. Earlier in Delhi, Ganesh puja was organised only in a handful of places, that too particularly by Maharashtrians, settled in Delhi. Now it has become a growing cult.
Even Durga puja used to be celebrated in limited places. Now, every year more and more festivals are being organised in cities and towns. The administration should act and ensure that all toxic material used in images should be scaled down before immersion.
Believers should also realise the fact that we all pray and worship our gods and goddesses with utmost devotion. By scaling down the quantum of pollution, we are not guilty of not performing our puja or saying our prayers with devotion.
By showing respect to our rivers and nature, we show respect and devotion to gods and goddesses who created rivers and seas, our source of life.
If we talk of the Ganga, the river line habitats almost 43 per cent of the country’s population, which is the highest human density of the world. Cities like Rishikesh, Haridwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Bhagalpur and Kolkata are all situated along the course of the Ganga.
last year, during Makar Sankranti, more than 100 dead bodies were found floating in the Ganga. Some communities, instead of cremating the dead, threw them into the river. In order to keep the flow of Ganga, such practices should be stopped .
This requires efforts of the Bhagirathi to save the river. It was Bhagirathi, who after great tapsya and efforts, brought the Ganga on earth as the legend has it.
One thing we should understand is that it is not the duty of the Government to save the river. The entire society should take the responsibility to keep the Ganga clean.
If the Thames river in london and the Nile in Cairo are great tourist attractions, why can’t we promote the tourism industry by developing the places situated on the bank of the Ganga and other riversIJ let us resolve on this Dussehra that we will not immerse images into the river, to keep the rivers alive and to keep it flowing.