Miniature Boitas (boats) are used today as children’s toys during the Odia festival of Baliyatra. Baliyatra literally means voyage to Bali and celebrates the ancient maritime tradition and the connection with Bali Island.
During the ceremony, men, women and children dressed up in traditional costumes launch tiny boats made from banana peels, paper or solapitha with lighted lamps inside, and Odia women perform the rite of ‘Boita Bandan’. The festival is similar to the ‘Masakapan Ke Tukad’ festival of Bali, and to the ‘loi Krathong’ festival of Thailand, both of which involve ritualistic floating of model boats around the same time of year. lakhs of people float miniature thermocol boats in the Mahanadi, Kathajodi, Bai,Budhabalang etc rivers including Bindusagar and Narendra ponds to celebrate Boita Bandana, giving a little thought to it that such practice poses a threat to the water bodies. The non-biodegradable miniature boats could pollute the stagnant water bodies.
But, the State Pollution Control Board does not have any provisions in order to curb the use of non-biodegradable materials in making of miniature boats for Kartik Purnima. Environmental activists want the board to formulate a rule that would check the sale of boats that are not eco-friendly. No regulation for sale of paper boats with thermocol has been formulated till date.
The tonne of non-biodegradable solid waste, lying scattered all over rivers and water bodies, cover their surface area and check the sunlight. This disturbs the oxygen cycle process and adversely affects aquatic flora and fauna. On the other hand, the celebrations on the occasion of Kartik Purnima have exposed the rivers to a grave pollution threat as the boats, which are all made of thermocol, are biodegradable objects that do not decompose easily. Papers also being soaked in water can cause green house gas methane emissions.
Earlier, eco-friendly plantains and shola pith (a milky white sponge wood) were used. Over the years, these gave way to boats made of thermocol. The shola pith, which was earlier used, is a completely natural alternative and does not contribute to water pollution. Shola is a plant that grows in marshy areas. The shoal pith is the cortex or core of the plant. Experts would remove the outer hard brown skin to get the inner soft material which can be made decorative. But, thermocol is artificially produced in the laboratory. As shola pith is not easily available these days, thermocol is widely used in making boats. We must ponder over this issue while celebrating our festivals.
(Dr Senapati is Professor and Head, Dept of Chemistry, Trident Academy of Technology, Bhubaneswar, email: dr_senapati@yahoo.com)