Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh chaturthi is the Hindu festival celebrated in honour of the elephant-headed god, Ganesha.
Celebrations are traditionally held on the fourth day of the first fortnight (Shukla Chaturthi) in the
month of Bhaadrapada in the Hindu calendar, usually August or September in the Gregorian calendar.
The festival generally lasts ten days, ending on the fourteenth day of the fortnight
The festival is celebrated in public and at home. The public celebration involves installing clay
images of Ganesha in public pandals (temporary shrines) and group worship. At home, an
appropriately-sized clay image is installed and worshiped with family and friends. At the end of the
festival, the idols are immersed (and dissolve) in a body of water such as a lake or pond.
During this festival, fireworks and crackers are used in abundance by the devotees for expressing their
happiness. This leads to Air pollution, as harmful gases and toxic substances like Barium, Cadmium,
Sodium, Mercury, Nitrate and Nitrite are released into atmosphere. Also, respirable suspended
particulate matter (RSPM) level goes high in this season as small particles are released into the
environment by these firecrackers.
In recent years, we have seen increased awareness about water pollution caused by visarjan i.e.
immersion of Ganesh Idols in lakes, rivers and Sea which are made out of Plaster of Paris (PoP) i.e.
calcium sulphate hemi hydrate. It takes several months to totally dissolve Ganesh Idols made up of
PoP into water.Also, colors used in decoration of idols contains harmful chemicals containing
mercury, lead which leaks into water as idol dissolves. It increases acid content, Total Dissolved solids
(TDS) and Heavy metals in water. It kills aquatic plants and marine life, damaging ecosystem under
water.Along with Ganesh idols people dump other accessories like thermocol, plastics, etc. as well
adding to the level of water pollution.
Devotees celebrate the prestigious festival with all possible means of loud music like listening to
bhajjans, kirtans and songs using massive speakers. During Anant Chaturdashi, which is the final day
of the auspicious Ganseh festival, we witness heavy traffic on the roads, which leads to an increase in
Air (particles from vehicles) and Noise (excessive honking) pollution.All the above points add up and
increase Noise pollution way beyond the permissible level of 55bB(day) and 45dB(night) stated by
the pollution control board. Senior citizens and childrens are directly affected by these as in certain
cases the noise level can even reach 110dB
Along with Idols several other accessories are used in worship of Ganapati such as, flowers, fruits,
coconuts, incents, camphor, cloth, plastic, thermocol. Etc. It is collectively called as Nirmalya.Every
year government spends crores of rupees to clean and dig out tons of garbage from natural water
sources such as rivers, lakes etc.These are all ill effects of Ganapati festival and is essential for to
know everyone, so that it becomes easier to take initiatives to reduce bad effects of Ganesh Chaturthi
on environment.

Durga pooja
Durga is an annual Hindu festival in South Asia that celebrates worship of the Hindu goddess
Durga. It refers to all the six days observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi, Maha Saptami, Maha
Ashtami, Maha Nabami and Vijayadashami. Durga Puja festival marks the victory of
Goddess Durga over the evil buffalo demon MahishasuraThus, Durga Puja festival epitomises
the victory of Good over Evil. In Bengal, Durga is worshipped as Durgotinashini, the
destroyer of evil and the protector of her devotees
Durga Puja is one of the auspicious occasion celebrated with great enthusiasm across India.
In modern times, festivals are getting commercialized and taking the shape of pomp and
show. Different communities set huge gigantic and attractive bright idols in order to compete
with other communities. This all leads to major problem of environment pollution. Idols
made by non biodegradable material and toxic paints contaminate water making it unfit for
survival of aquatic life and drinking purposes. The material used for idols like Plaster of Paris
(POP) is mainly the compound of gypsum, sulphur, phosphorus and magnesium. Chemical
paints comprise of mercury, cadmium, lead and carbon. Immersion of idols with such
poisonous and toxic elements raises the level of acidity, solid matter, organic matter and
heavy metals in water bodies. These materials dont dissolve readily and lowers the oxygen
level in water adversely affecting the aquatic life. In order to come out of such problems and
enjoy festival with the same spirit, devotees themselves should give a serious thought over
the methods of celebrations and should turn to Eco friendly idols for their celebrations. Even
the Government should take a step towards this burning issue and set strict guidelines for
craftsmen to use Eco-friendly materials and organic paints.

Diwali
Diwali is called as festival of lights. It is very widely celebrated festival in India. Usually
Diwali festival falls between October-November of Gregorian calendar. It has been
celebrated from ancient time as mentioned in Ramayana and Mahabharata mythologies. It is
celebrated by cleaning and decorating homes, visiting relatives and exchanging gifts, Sweets
etc. It is believed that Buying gold in Diwali is a good sign. Many people do pooja in these
days in their homes. Roads and homes are lighted /decorated by oil lamps and festive lights.
And most importantly fireworks are set off by children for celebrations. The commonly used
types of fireworks in celebrations are Rockets, Roman Candles, Sparkles, and Wheels etc

On this auspicious occasion unknowingly harmful gases and toxic substances released to
environment by bursting fireworks such as Barium, Cadmium, Sodium, Mercury, Nitrate and
Nitrite. These are called as Air pollutants. Also RSPM level goes high as small particles
emitted by bursting of fireworks. RSPM means Respirable Suspended Particulate Material.
Also need of electricity goes high in this period. To overcome shortage of electricity majorly
electricity generated by using diesel, Coal etc. that also causes air pollution
Bursting of fireworks not only causes air pollution but also Noise pollution. Also because of
happiest festival many people use loudspeakers, loud musical instruments and advertisements
that causes noise pollution. Level of noise level can go beyond 125 dB which is as loud as
Military jet aircraft take-off, whereas government limits Noise level at 55dB in daytime and
45dB at night for residential area. These type of noises are very harmful for new-born babies.
With happiness it also brings Dry waste like papers, plastics, firework covers. Massive
amount of non-degradable dry waste generated in Diwali celebration. It causes Soil pollution
as less space for dumping ground in major cities. In these five days Fireworks are handled by
kids and due to their poisonous nature many children fall ill. Poisonous gases may cause
fever, Skin irritation, vomiting, Effects of Fireworks on lungs, insomnia, heart, asthma and
bronchitis. Also many children face accidents due to mishandling of fireworks and it causes
burning, cutting. Also it has been observed that mortality and morbidity rate increased in
Diwali period because of SPM, RSPM and other harmful gases released in environment.Loud
noise of fireworks causes Temporary deafness, permanent Eardrum rupture, trauma and
hypertension.
Also these fireworks made by people and children are exposed to poisonous metals like lead,
mercury, Nitrate and Nitrite. Due to this they face health issues and die in early stage of their
lives. Also due to high demand of fireworks small kids are also work for 12 hrs in a day for

fireworks companies before Diwali.

Holi
As we all know Holi is the festival of colours and where ever you see, on this day, people
throw colours on one another. It is believed that without colours Holi festival is
incomplete. The actual meaning of colours signifies love for others and creates positive
energy in our own. At the past, Holi was celebrated with natural colours that were easily
available in the market or can be made at home. In place of yellow colour they used
turmeric powder where as for red colour they took hibiscus and for green colour they
choose henna powder. Thus, everybody play safe Holi at that time.
But today, markets are over flooded with different types of paste colours, wet and dry
colours. These colours contain harmful chemicals in it and people enjoy playing with
these harmful happily. The chemical colours contain solvents like lead, aromatic
compounds, tetrathyline and benzene. Red, green and black are some of the dark
colours that contain copper sulphate, mercury sulphite and lead oxide in high content.
These harmful solvents when mixed with colours can directly lead to skin related
problems like rashes, skin cancer, allergy, etc.
Effects of chemical colours
The colours contain high toxic chemicals which come in content with our skin and enter
inside our body through pores. Thus give rise to skin and other diseases.

Causes allergy in eyes which results in blindness, redness of the eyes.

Excess intake of black colour containing lead oxide through air directly affects the
kidney.

Chlorine iodine contains in purple colour causes asthma.

Causes skin cancer.

Directly attack the nervous system which results in mental retardation.

Leads to dermatitis due to rashes and itching.

Directly affects the hair. Once the colour gets dry, it results in dry and brittle hair.

Permanent chemical dyes are also available in the market in the form of Holi colours. It
is very difficult to wash these colours and retain for several days on the skin once it gets
dry and thus termed as pucca colours. People also make use of grease and engine oil to
play Holi. These chemicals when comes in contact with our skin give rise to various skin
related problems. You will feel the reaction after two to three hours. You have to use
kerosene oil, soaps and detergents to get rid of these chemicals which in turn cause
more problems for the skin.
Chemical colours are more in demand and easily available as they are cheap as
compared to the natural herbal colours. These are generally prepared easily by adding
harmful substances like mica, alkalis and glass powder.
Purple, green and some other dark colours highly contain chemical content. Avoid
coming in direct contact with these colours. Wash these colours from your body as soon
as possible before they enter through pores and mix with the blood. Try not to stand in
front of sunlight for a long time after applying colours. To avoid all the harmful effects of
chemical colours, choose flower petals and natural colours. It is very necessary to use
eco-friendly colours and play safe Holi.