A mural of bangles and the men who made it at Satya Amar Lok Puja Samiti pandal in Ranchi on Tuesday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Oct. 12: The goddess — slayer of demons — will be happy: in her honour this year, Durga Puja committees in the capital are slaying demons that plague the environment through eco-friendly celebrations.

Be it in making idols or the surrounding decor, Puja committees are making use of organic products that cause least harm to water bodies after immersion or materials that can be recycled.

For idols, instead of artificial colours and plaster of Paris, vegetable colours, cloth, wood, paper and other natural material have gained currency. And for Puja pandals, recycling rules the roost, with leaves, jute, bamboo, thermocol, bangles and bamboos as raw material.

SAIL Satellite Township Durga Puja Committee general secretary Surendra Prasad said this year an eco-friendly Durga Puja was high on their priority list. “We will celebrate this festival adhering to pollution board norms. We will also follow a sustainable waste management system so that by-products can be recycled,” Prasad said.

Kanta Toli’s Netaji Subhash Bose Puja Committee in-charge Kumar S. Chakraborty said that they were using natural clay for idols while bamboo baskets would be used for pandal decor. “Apart from clay, we are using natural colours so that after immersion, idols do not affect aquatic life,” he said.

Ranchi Main Road’s Chandrasekhar Azad Puja Committee in-charge Ram Thakur said for a green symbolism, they were making an artificial banyan tree under which the goddess would be placed. Harmu’s Satya Amar Lok Puja Committee has decided to take the recycling route. “Our pandal will be designed like a chariot with bangles specially brought from Ferozabad, which we will later reuse for Kali Puja. Our idols will be made of clay, without toxic matter,” said its in-charge Hemendra Singh.

Rajasthan Mitra Mandal, the major draw on Lake Road, near Sewa Sadan hospital, would also stress on an eco-friendly Durga Puja, said its in-charge Vinay Sarawagi.

NGOs have also decided to appeal for a greener, safer Durga Puja. As Citizen Foundation’s secretary Ganesh Reddy said, “Citizens must wake up and create mass awareness about environment degradation. In fact, chemicals in idols are harmful when dissolved in water. In Jharkhand, water bodies are drying up and we need to save them,” he said.

Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board analyst R.N. Kashyap also pointed out that puja committees need to adhere to guidelines according to the Central Pollution Control Board. “All puja pandals should be eco-friendly, making use of environment-friendly materials for idols and pandal decorations. It will go a long way in reducing water pollution,” said the analyst.