Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Young girls from the Dalit community have decorated the Durga Puja Pandal of Nav Yuvak Nav Durga Samiti at Housing Board Colony, Tila Jamalpura, in the city using only eco-friendly material.
They have made colourful Gujarati kites of different sizes in Bhopali style and fixed them in the 20 X 30 feet Pandal.
Wool, fur, bamboo from Assam and cloth were used for making the kites. The 5.5-foot idol is made of clay. According to Gopal Mukharaya, secretary of the Samiti, their objective was to promote handicrafts, eco-friendly materials and generate work besides sending out the message of protection of the environment, he said.
He said a plastic sheet spread over the roof of the pandal to make it rain-proof was the only non-biodegradable material used by them. Mukhraiya said that they had tried to procure the kites from Gujarat for decorating the Pandal. But that was costing them upwards of Rs 1.25 lakh. “Then we decided to involve the Dalit girls living nearby. About 15 girls, aged 12-13 years, prepared the kites in around 20 days,” he said, adding that they made a saving of around 30 per cent that way.
“They already knew bamboo work. We gave them some tips and they really did a very good job,” he said.
The 32-year-old Samiti has been doing something unique in Durga Utsavs for the past five years. “We have set up pandals themed on Swachhta Abhiyan, Ram Mandir and on the ills of single-used plastic in the past,” he said.
They had also built a small artificial pond in which they immersed their idols after the end of the Navratri. On Sharad Purnima day, they took out the soil from the bed of the pond and packed it into small bags. “We planted Tulsi saplings in each bag and presented them to people,” Mukhraiya said.
“We posted the pictures of the Pandal with details, on Facebook and we received a lot of appreciation,” he said.
“Kya baat hai, chhoti-chhoti deviyon ne taiyyar kiya Durga Maa ka Pandal,” Ashok Tiwari, a user, wrote.
