VASCO
While the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) is gearing up for a plastic-free Diwali, the residents of the port town have demanded that narkasur effigies should also have no trace of plastic.
Narkasur effigies, which are stuffed with firecrackers, are burnt at dawn a day prior to Diwali to mark Krishna’s slaying of Asura king. Residents claim that earlier effigies of narkasur used to be gigantic metal skeletons stuffed with stacks of old newspapers and dry grass, but now a lot of alternative items like thermocol and plastics are used.
Ramdas Gaonkar from Baina said it is the plastic and thermocol that cause immense pollution while the effigies are burnt. “The smoke from burning of wood is different from that of burning plastic and thermocol. The fumes of burning plastic can sometimes be pungent and cause allergies. The fumes of thermocol also are sharp and strong and not good for small kids who are present during the burning of effigies,” he stated.
Another resident Shankar Desai rued that earlier making of effigies was so much fun, but today everything associated with it was commercial. “There are competitions and cash prizes are offered,” he said and added, “As a youth, I remember, we would plan innovative concepts and share the work of sourcing funds and material for building the effigies. Several kilos of newspapers would go into making of these giant effigies.
He recollected, “We would go around the locality requesting people to contribute in the form of newspapers. For 10 days, we used to work overtime and slept hardly for two-three hours a day. Sadly, those days are no more. Today, thermocol has taken over as it is easy to cut and paint. These materials cause more pollution and bad smoke than regular paper,” Desai added.
The concerned residents have now requested the authorities to write a letter to the Goa State Pollution Control Board urging it to ban thermocol and plastic in the making of narkasurs and use more paper and wood. They said Vasco will have around 30 small and big narkasur effigies rubbing shoulders with each other in many localities. Many of these huge effigies will be seen in competitions to be held on the eve of Diwali. The effigies are paraded on Swatantra Path in Vasco before being consigned to flames.
