bangalore come september 19 and ecofriendly idols of lord ganesha look good to find their way to homes of many a devotee in bangalore ecofriendly ganeshas are in this year evident by the advance bulk bookings people are now aware of being environmentfriendly which the sale and booking figures clearly indicate we sourced more than double the number of idols than last year just to keep up with demand said mala dhawan founder trustee of a hundred hands a nonprofit trust whose mission is to help those directly involved in the creation of handmade art and craft and help them earn a fair and sustainable livelihood a hundred hands who get their idols from north karnataka shimoga and maharashtra have registered 100 idol bookings so far and are expecting the number to go up manifold around the festival we get them from kr puram and pottery town keeping in mind that last year demand was far more than supply weve sourced around 1000 idols this year these are in the range of 10 inches to 3 feet and priced between rs 250 and rs 1250 said vijayalakshmi s proprietor of the living shop all you have to do is immerse the idol in a bucket of water which can then be used in the garden it nurtures plants and completing the cycle of nature said dhawanpoisoning the environment leadbased paint used to make idols colourful and shiny is environmentunfriendly lead is a pollutant which is hazardous to health plaster of paris widely used to make ganesha idols contains sulphur gypsum phosphorus and magnesium while idols made of natural clay dissolve within hours of immersion in water these idols take several years to disintegrate this disturbs the waters ecosystem by reducing water levels and also blocking water flow oxygen is very important to fish and other aquatic animals the toxic paint used in making the idols form a thin layer on the water surface increasing the acidity level and reducing oxygen supply to aquatic animals by about 50 this often results in the death of fish and others which depend on oxygen for survival thats why shoals of dead fish are often seen floating on the surface of water bodies soon after the festival said vinay kumar c environmental researcher national referral centre for lead projects in india nrclpi st johns national academy of health sciences the response this year is wonderful our artisans have been kept busy with many orders said n shashidhara secretary of the craft council of karnataka