Raid on banned thermocol items at Kumartuli, other artisan hubs
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Kolkata: The cops have started their a month-long pre-puja awareness campaign by conducting raids on all idol-making hubs, including Kumartuli, to dissuade decorators and artisans from using thermocol or expanded polystyrene.
By an order dated Oct 28, 2022, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board banned thermocol in all forms. "The use of plastic carry bags below 75 microns, single-use plastic cutlery, use of cutlery made of thermocol, and use of thermocol for decoration is totally banned since July 1, 2022. There is provision for penal action for its contravention," the PCB order said. Derived from petroleum, just like plastic, thermocol products are non-biodegradable and pose a threat to the environment.
PCB chairman Kalyan Rudra in 2022 said that puja committees were giving undertakings not to use thermocol for that year.
The banned material is not just preferred for ornaments and decorative items but is also used widely by the idol sculptors at Kumartuli. Nearly 20%-30% of the material used to make an idol is thermocol. According to sculptors Samir Pal and Ganesh Dinda, the Durga idols' designs, along with ornaments, were shown to the clients at the time of taking the contract.
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"How do we change it at this moment? We will need to finish it with less than a month left," they said.
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Environmental activists argued that the use of thermocol has been banned nationwide for a long time, making the administrative action justified. However, continuous awareness campaigns should have been conducted well before the festival. Conducting raids just before the festival will harm the artists and put them in trouble, some felt.
With Durga Puja just a month away, these frequent police visits have stirred fear in artists of potential seizures, Babu Pal and Ranjit Sarkar, representatives of the Kumartuli Potters' Association, said on Wednesday.
However, it's not a special phenomenon for cops to come before Durga Puja with such orders, a thermocol design manufacturer said. "It's been happening for two to three years," Sarkar said.
A few artisans have already met Shyampukur police station IC, stating that their hands were tied at the last moment and they could have done something six to eight months back.
"On Sunday, various artisan organisations from Kumartuli came to Shyampukur police station expressing their concerns. They complained that hundreds of artisans associated with this craft were facing livelihood issues. We have assured them not to worry unless we find gross violations," said a police source.
Artist Bishwanath De, who has been working with thermocol and embroidery for a long time, said, "The festival is at our doorstep. If the police keep coming, how will we conduct our business? We have no choice but to protest."
"Delivery date is closing in. If we now change the material, it will not only change the design but also push up the making cost, leading to last-moment tussles on payments and deliveries," said Prasun Dey.
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