Kolkata: The green movement surrounding Durga Puja is now looking beyond pandals to transform entire neighbourhoods. With the slogan ‘From Green Puja to Green Para’, the latest edition of the Green Puja Award was launched by Bengal environment and forest minister Manoj Kumar Oraon at West Bengal Pollution Control Board headquarters on Monday.Initiated in 2007 by environmental organisation EnGIO, the award is described by organisers as India’s oldest initiative recognising environmentally sustainable practices at community festivals.“Puja committees can become catalysts for environmental change. Our objective should be to extend sustainable practices beyond the festival and make neighbourhoods cleaner and greener throughout the year,” Oraon said.With lakhs of revellers thronging Kolkata’s pandals, Durga Puja generates enormous quantities of plastic, food and other solid waste, besides noise pollution. Organisers believe the festival’s massive community outreach offers an opportunity to promote environmental responsibility.“Green Puja was never meant to remain merely an award. We want every participating club to become a neighbourhood champion of sustainability, carrying forward waste segregation, recycling and pollution control throughout the year,” said Sujata Basu of EnGIO, the initiative’s key organiser.Indian Plastic Federation is also launching a campaign, ‘Know the Plastic Waste’, to promote segregation and recycling. “We want to give maximum emphasis to recycling and demonstrate how plastic waste can become a revenue-earning opportunity,” said federation president Amit Agarwal.The initiative seeks to encourage Puja committees to adopt cleaner materials, reduce waste, conserve energy and minimise noise, turning the city’s biggest festival into a platform for lasting environmental change.
