Bengaluru: Due to environmental concerns and awareness among youth, the craze for PoP (Plaster of Paris make idols) have dwindled over the last few years. As a result of this, the makers of Ganesha idols have lost their livelihood. The shift from clay to PoP was mainly to save cost and time involved, as clay idols are 20 percent expensive and consume 40 percent more time, they claim.
To highlight their problem, the idol makers protested in front of the Town Hall, urging the government to find chemical solvents to dissolve PoP idols and mark zones for their immersion at various places in urban limits. When chemicals and dyes used in clothes and saris including silk cause enormous water pollution while washing them in lakes and rivers, why the government is only restricting PoP idols, is their point of argument.
Some idol makers taking part in the protest only wished and prayed to Ganesha ( deity known to clear impediments), so that the “sale of stocks” lying unsold last year find “market place” and “buyers”, to enable them to get out of the crisis.
