The eco friendly Durga Puja celebration in this pandal in Delhi is an inspiration 

Keeping up with the world’s shift towards sustainability and preservation of the environment, the Pusa Bangiya Sangeet Sabha Durga Puja in New Delhi is celebrating the occasion in an eco-friendly manner.

No plastic has been used in the Puja premise, even the idol is purely made of clay, no synthetic components have been used in the idol.

“As the government has announced its intentions to make India a plastic free nation from October 2, we thought we should also contribute to this by celebrating this year’s Durga Puja in an eco-friendly way”, said PBSS President PK Chakrabarty.

"The pollution caused to the water bodies during visarjan served as a cautionary tale to us, hence, even the idol is made up of biodegradable, eco-friendly materials such as clay and straw; zero usage of synthetic, non-biodegradable material. Everything in this celebration is eco-friendly!"

The decorations in the Puja premise is also made up of biodegradable material. "It became quite an expensive affair when we decided to organise such an elaborate event with purely environment friendly practices. But the cost to bear fades in contrast to the service done to our Mother Earth," Chakrabarty exclaims with glee.

The Puja committee has ensured that no plastic is used. The plates in which Bhog is given to the devotees are made of leaves, replacing the thermocol and plastic plates which cause a grave problem to the environment.

Every year, hundreds of Durga idols are immersed in the Yamuna on Dashami which pollutes the already polluted river. PBSS talked to the local MLA and got a permission to dig a pond in which the idol will be immersed. Keeping this in mind, the idol is also made shorter this year to fit in the pond.

With Greta questioning the world leaders on why the governments are not doing enough to preserve the environment, acts like PBSS’ eco-friendly Durga Puja shows that if not the governments then people are gradually becoming aware of the grave threat to our survival in the form of climate change.