Navratri has ended peacefully with Maa Durga idol immersion on Sunday. However, Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) has appeared as reluctant this year too, in terms of compelling devotees and Pooja Samitis to follow environmental norms in the process saying that though it had issued guidelines before Pooja started on September 21, the district administration had to play more important role in forcing devotees to follow them.
“We have issued guidelines related to idol immersion before Pooja started. We have identified repeat offenders of environment norms during previous years and are keeping close eyes on them. We will also identify gross violators who have failed to follow none of the norms. But the problem is that we have been facing manpower crunch, and we can’t remain present at every immersion site. Moreover, district administration has to play more active role in entire process,” said JSPCB Member Secretary Sanjay Kumar Suman on Sunday.
However, he appeared downplaying impact of idol immersion created pollution in water bodies as a whole which has otherwise played key role in destroying water ecosystem in and around city and State since some years.
“It is once in a year affair, and we can’t become as strict as we use to happen in other cases of environment pollution throughout the year. But it doesn’t mean that we will not issue notices to gross and repeat violators. We will go a step ahead to get them penalised too,” added Suman. Notably, the district administration had already asked the Durga Puja Samitis to finish entire process of idol immersion by October 1, as Muharram procession was expected on October 2 and 3.
Ironically, JSPCB doesn’t have many examples of those penalised for violating pollution norms in past to those taking process for granted. “This is true that the number of those penalised for violating idol immersion norms has remained low. But as I said, It is once in a year affair, and even after repeated guidelines and suggestions, most of the Pooja Samitis other than those which have started using environment friendly materials and colours have failed to take the matter seriously,” said Suman.
Notably, water bodies in State have remained cursed with one kind of pollution or the other, and idol immersion has only been adding to the menace. Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) on the other hand said that the teams were kept ready to clean ponds in city as soon as possible, as the civic body had to keep ponds ready for Chhath procession three weeks later. “Our teams are ready to take up cleaning works from Monday itself and ponds will be cleaned at the earliest,” said Deputy Mayor Sanjeev Vijayavargeeya.