Madhya Pradesh: Demand for eco-friendly Ganesha idols high in Bhopal's markets

Bhopal: Amidst the fervour of Ganesh Chaturthi festival, the markets in Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh are seeing high demand of eco-friendly Lord Ganesha idols.
Also, with the aim of spreading awareness of environmental protection and inspiring people towards protecting nature, Lord Ganesha idols prepared from cow dung are being promoted here.
"I prefer eco-friendly Lord Ganesha idol every year so that there should be no harm to our nature and we can perform its immersion at home as well. This eco-friendly idol is made up from cow dung and it does not pollute water after immersion. The Lord will remain at our home and if we use it in the pot then, a healthy plant is grown. I will request others too that instead of POP (Plaster of Paris) idols use eco-friendly idols made up of cow dung as it is beneficial for us as well as for nature," said Ashwnini Verma, a local from Bhopal who was in the market to buy the idol.
"We have been preparing Ganesha idols using cowdung since 2016 and we have been putting our stall here for the last four years. Now, slowly and gradually we are greeting good responses as people get aware about nature. It doesn't affect water at all. We can also use it as manure for plants. If we immerse it at home then also we can use it as manure for flower pots. It causes no harm to nature," said Hukum Singh Patidar, Member of GauKripa Panchagavya Ayurvedic Sansthan, who was selling idols at the market.
"It contains 90 percent cow dung, about five percent wood bark powder is added for binding and remaining eco-friendly colours are used in it. No harmful chemicals are used in any way in the making of these idols," he added.