Every year, parts of Kolkata get waterlogged during monsoon. Often people blame the civic authorities for their inability to clean up the sewage system. But it is the people themselves who dump polythene bags and plastic materials, which is one of the main reasons behind the clogging. New Alipore Suruchi Sangha is all set to address and portray the environmental issue through their puja theme this year.
On Wednesday, the popular south Kolkata puja declared that it would not use any vinyl hoardings and flex boards. Instead, they would use cloth canvas to advertise their puja. “Cloth canvas, being 100 per cent biodegradable is the best option to replace vinyl hoardings,” said Swarup Biswas, one of the main organisers of the Puja.
Biswas said: “We all have the responsibility to save the environment and with this initiative, Suruchi Sangha pledges to eliminate the use of plastic at their Puja this year. We are acquiring cloth canvases from different sources and they are being turned into hoardings by our artists.”
According to Biswas, the club puts up around 350 hoardings in Kolkata and its suburbs every year. Each of these hoardings belong to different sizes such as 4/6ft, 4/8ft or 4/10ft. “In that way, we are not using thousands of square inches of vinyl this year alone,” Biswas said.
‘The ink that is being used in the hoardings is lead-free,’ said artist Gouranga Kuila (in pic on right), the brain behind this year’s theme of the club
Because of the usage of cloth, the cost of hoardings has increased by about 35 per cent, but the puja committee is not worried about that. “If the cost is going up, we can always reduce the number of hoardings by about 30 per cent to balance the cost. Moreover, the ink that is being used in the hoardings is lead-free,” said artist Gouranga Kuila, the brain behind this year’s theme of the club.
Kuila said with their puja, they are trying to send a clear message that all of us should think and work to save nature. “If we do not do it now, it would be too late. Moreover, we plan to reuse these cloth hoardings in some other ways,” Kuila said.
When asked about this year’s actual theme, the artists and the organisers just said Suruchi Sangha was going for something unprecedented. “This year, our tagline is Ma Tor Eto Onge Eto Roop,” Biswas said.
