A responsible, clean, green Ganpati Bappa Morya

The first look of Lalbaugcha Raja 2019. Image courtesy: Manjeet Thakur

It is time to say goodbye Ganeshji from Mumbai today as the 10-day festival comes to an end and the city's elephant-headed deity leaves for His watery destination.

The stellar effort of the traffic police has always been heralded by this paper. In this crowded, impossible to manage city, where we carry the population of Norway on our roads every day, the task is Herculean to say the least. Yet our cops outdo themselves and traffic flow on Visarjan Day does move smoothly if all rules are adhered to.

People need to keep their side of the bargain today. Give your Formula One instincts a rest and keep at a slow, cautious pace on the road. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's caution on climate change, "time to do away with onetime use plastic" may sound hollow if we see broken idols on beaches. We can only hope that a majority if not all idols are eco-friendly. Move towards a full green Ganpati festival. That is the least we can do for our environment.

Shouting about trees being cut for an Aarey Metro car shed and Coastal Road is very well, but we need to ensure that we make changes at our homes and in our personal capacity too. Finally all organisers and mandals have to clean up post the festival. If any damage has been done by poles and bamboos fixed into pavements, they need to repair that and restore the pavement to the original. The city has been plastered with hoardings, many of politicians wishing everyone for this festival. Clear those as soon as possible and workers of political parties need to pitch in to remove these banners.

A festival means free publicity for our denizens. Now that it is over, let them demonstrate responsibility too.

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