Eco-Celebrations!

The Festival is for a few days… Nature is forever…

With the enthusiasm of celebrating the festival, we generally forget the hazardous impacts of our celebration on the state of natural environment. This Ganesh Chaturthi, let us be mindful of the ecological impacts of our celebrations. Celebrations are no doubt joyous and necessary, but there is a dire need for it to be eco-friendly and sustainable in the context of pressing ecological disasters. 

Year after year, our oceans, lakes and the river bodies is getting choked and disturbed with the remains of Plaster of Paris idols, harmful chemical colors and non-biodegradable decorative items. I wonder for how long would the nature be able to sustain the load of insane human activities as the nature also has its own carrying capacity and a tipping point which has already started shattering. This is evident from the fact that today also happens to be an 'Earth Overshoot Day', signifying that we have consumed the ecological resources and the services that the earth can generate for this year. 

 Does our beloved Bappa deserve it?  (Source: News18)

Nature has already started to show warning signals with the ever growing frequency and intensity of erratic rainfalls, heat waves, floods, cyclones, droughts, forest fires and storms. At a time when all this ecological disasters are at its peak, there is a pressing need to re-examine our actions and way of celebrations. 

The Indian culture gave us the freedom to celebrate the festivals in our own ways. Let us not misuse the freedom by polluting the natural water bodies and aquatic life with the idol immersion. Plaster of paris idols may take several months or even years to fully dissolve and it reduces the oxygen level in the water, thus killing the aquatic organisms. The sellers may claim that the idols are made of 100% clay, but often there is no means to verify the claims. Anyways, let's assume even if the idol is made up of clay, but the artificial colors on it contain heavy metals such as mercury and lead which are very toxic when it seeps into the water. Imagine the adverse impact it creates on the innumerable aquatic flora and fauna.  Besides, several other accessories like plastic flowers, cloth are carelessly dumped adding more strain to the already polluted rivers and lakes. Many of these water bodies are also a source of pure drinking water for us. Are not our actions like "cutting the branch of a tree we are sitting upon?"

We at our home have been following the tradition of placing Metal Ganesha every year. We take pride in worshiping the same idol year after year. In decoration, we try to avoid or make minimal use of plastic or thermocol. To offset the direct/indirect carbon emissions of our actions, we plant and protect the native trees in our surroundings. We carry out the symbolic immersion in a tub bath and again start re-worshiping it for the rest of the year.

It is worthwhile to note about the initiative by Kolhapur city wherein more than 3 lakh families practice eco-friendly immersion by donating 100% of the nirmalya (flower offerings) for composting. It is also a welcome move by the Central Pollution Control Board to ban all the POP idols and the use of harmful decorative materials like plastic and thermocol from the next year. Now the onus is onto us to become eco-friendly devotees by following the sustainable practices and not blame the government for the polluting water bodies.

I believe that real wisdom and devotion behind celebrating the festivals lies in valuing the nature created by the divine and not in destroying it. On one hand, we treat holy river Ganga as our mother (“Ganga Mayya”) and on the other hand, we pollute and degrade it like anything with our mindless actions like idol immersion. It is high time that we celebrate the festivals responsibly. Let us be the agent of change, take responsibility and motivate our family members and neighbors to celebrate the festive occasions in a joyful, meaningful and eco-friendly manner. The lord Ganesha would be even more happier in seeing our higher level of devotion which is not only about worshiping the lord Ganesh but also about preserving the state of natural environment. We need to remind ourselves of a simple fact that "He Exists in His Creations!"

Find me in Nature (Source: IndiaToday)

Today on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, I sincerely wish that the better sense prevails in our devotion and act of celebration. This year and in the years to follow, let us make the responsible choice for our family and the planet with an eco-friendly Ganesha! 

Bamboo Primary Processing - a case study from Kerala

 

Bamboo has tremendous potential for both the nature and society. There are thousands of articles, reports and papers documenting its hidden potential. But over the years, its potential for the societal benefits has been underexplored and as a result of which the bamboo sector remained underdeveloped. We often discuss and critique about the slow growth in bamboo sector for the multifold reasons. While a lot of focus of our endless discussions remain about the problems, which ultimately results nowhere. The story to follow from the Gods own country Kerala seems to be a proven model to address some of the problems in bamboo sector and may put an accelerator to its growth.

Back in 1970’s, Kerala state had about one lakh women workers involved in bamboo mat making activities. These workers were traditional and barely earned any income out of it. Realizing this as an opportunity, Kerala State Bamboo Corporation (KSBC) was formed in 1971 to empower and enhance the wages of bamboo artisans. The task was not an easy, but KSBC strategically planned out the activities by ensuring an efficient value chain network. The main actors in the value chain network were the Forest Department (FD), Kerala State Bamboo Corporation (KSBC), Reed Cutters (RD), Weavers Community (WC) and the manufacturer (KSBC). In the year 1980, KSBC also started a bamboo mat board (BMB) factory with the technological support from IPIRTI.

KSBC formed the backward linkages with the weaving communities and bamboo harvesters. About 15,000 Reed Cutters were registered with the KSBC and they were paid on the basis of their work output. The reed cutters are mainly from tribal background. Each RD is given Rs 11 for cutting one reed and are also given annual incentives of Rs 17.5% on the total number of reeds cut within a year. A reed cutter manages to cut about 6 bundles of bamboos daily, thus earns about 400 Rs per day and about 2.7 Lakhs per annum.

The reed cutters supply these bamboos to the weaver’s community which in turn ensure the continuous supply of bamboo mats as raw material for manufacturing the bamboo mat boards. About 1 lakh such artisans are registered with the 17 community mat weaving center’s (CMWC). The mat weavers are generally women who get daily allowance after weaving at least 3 mats per day. The weavers weave the mat of size 8.25’*4.25’ for which they are paid 166 Rs/mat. On an average, each mat weaver weaves about 3 mats daily, thus earns about 500 Rs per day and approximately 1.1 Lakhs per annum.

The activity of making the bamboo mat boards has been running seamlessly and about 9,000 people are employed in the BMB factory. All the value chain actors remained in the trade as their earnings are much more than the opportunity cost of forgone activities. The KSBC model has proved the immense potential of bamboo in generating livelihoods and boosting the local employment. In the current situation where major emphasis is being given to the Atmabirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the Kerala bamboo primary processing model could very well be a role model for the other bamboo rich states to plan and replicate in the post COVID 19 economic recovery.