Mumbai Mandal Recycles Flowers and Paper into Giant Ganpati Idols

Every year, many people celebrate Ganeshotsav by making and immersing Ganesha idols.

Sunil Mayekar’s family worried that plaster-of-Paris idols were polluting nearby lakes.

Since 2008, their mandal has made its own idols from materials such as tissue paper, bamboo and used flowers.

They have also tried banana fibre and other discarded materials.

These idols can break down more quickly than plaster idols.

The mandal now uses an artificial tank instead of a lake for immersion.

Afterward, it collects the paper pulp and saves it for the next idol.

This creates a cycle in which one year’s idol helps make the next year’s idol.