Family trio makes 11 eco-friendly idols using 3.55 lakh tissue papers

MUMBAI: A Ganesh mandal at Vile Parle rolled out 11 large eco-friendly idols during the festival week, which were sent to different pockets of the metropolis. They

MUMBAI: A Ganesh mandal at Vile Parle rolled out 11 large eco-friendly idols during the festival week, which were sent to different pockets of the metropolis. They employed ingredients that quickened the dissolution of the idols after immersion.

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Three people — a senior citizen and his two sons — at Vile Parlecha Peshwa Bal Gopal Mitra Mandal employed tissue paper and bamboo to make Ganesh statues of heights ranging from 11 feet to 22 feet. Running the Ganpati idol-making endeavour at Vile Parle (East), they focused on ecological conservation.

Digambar Mayekar, along with Sunil, 38, and Rajesh, 40, have been making eco-friendly idols since 2008. This year, they used 30,000 tissue papers each to make 10 of the 11 idols that were sent to mandals located at Goregaon, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Santacruz, Thane and Kalyan. “One of them was selected as this year’s Mahimcha Raja,” says Mayekar, 65.

Besides, the Vile Parlecha Peshwa made a 22-foot idol from 55,000 tissue papers, which weighed 150kg. “It was seated atop a white horse,” he added.

“The idea is to reduce the use of Plaster of Paris to protect the environment. We intended to use already available resources as much as possible,” said Mayekar. “The idol is important as it takes less time to dissolve in water. It is not harmful to the marine ecology. The bamboo sticks are removed before the idol is immersed.”

While making the idol, Rajesh explained that first, a layout of bamboo sticks were stuck together using natural gum. “With a touch of water, we mixed a large mould of tissue papers and newspapers and placed them on the bamboo sticks. Within three months, the idol’s impression was ready,” he said.

To help the idol dissolve faster during immersions, the trio used water-colours as decorations. “Tissue paper easily absorbs water-soluble colours,” points out Sunil. “They dissolve in flowing water within one-and-a-half-hour and in still water within three hours. Clay idols take more time, and harm aquatic environment.”

The idols that were sent to different mandals were priced between Rs30,000 to Rs70,000 depending upon their size. “We started making the idols immediately after last year’s festival,” said Mayekar. “Next time, we plan to make double the number of idols we made this year. We want the eco-friendly movement to can gain more popularity.”