Students take river's fate into their hands

AHMEDABAD: More than 150 National Service Scheme (NSS) students of Saraspur Arts and Commerce College swooped down on the Sabarmati riverfront for a clean up drive to rid the riverfront of thousands of PoP idols left there by devotees on Friday. The students resolved to come everyday at 7 am till they clean up the riverbanks. The college requested Ahmedabad Municipal Coproration ( AMC) or Sabarmati Riverfront Development Coproration Limited (SRFDCL) help by sending vehicles to carry the idols away in a respectable manner.

The NSS team is led by Dr Alpesh Upadhyay, a professor at the college, as part of a special Save River Save Environment campaign. Upadhyaya designed a campaign along with his students to help spread awareness against the use of PoP idols which have harmful chemicals and dyes that can be dangerous to aquatic life.

"Everyday our students will come in the morning and spend three hours on cleaning up the riverfront till all idols and waste material is removed. In the course of our awareness drive ahead of Ganesh immersion festival we will spread the message of using mud-based idols with eco-friendly colours. We will also campaign against the wastage of tonnes of coconuts, sweets, incense sticks, ghee and dry fruits that are thrown into the river," says Upadhyay.

TOI had reported that devotees of Dashama left thousands of idols on the Sabarmati riverfront late on Thursday because a ban has been imposed on the immersion of idols made of plaster of Paris (PoP).