Pune, India, part 4

Reading the local newspapers gives you an idea of what the hot topics are in Pune and India at the moment.

I will share them with you:

1. the weather, in particular the monsoon.

In general, this year there is not enough rainfall, creating problems like agriculturally and for the water supply for households.
Having said that, on the other hand, locally the showers can be intense and long, causing other problems, like floodings.
And around Pune, in the hill stations, the monsoon brings water for the waterfalls, drawing big crowds who want to enjoy the sight and have family picknicks in these areas, causing a lot of drownings, when people slip and fall down the waterfall or swim and get caught in heavy water streams.

In the picture above and under we see the devastating effects of the rain in Jaipur, a city that we will visit in about a month from now.

Here we see the effect of a heavy pour down in Mumbai. You can see that they write :"Finally...", since everybody is waiting for more rain. And they also expect the monsoon to continue longer and later this year.

In the India Times from last saturday e.g.:

"PUNE: Three teenagers, including a college student, drowned in two separate incidents in Pune district on Saturday.

The first incident took place in the backwaters of the Bhatghar dam in Bhor taluka around 60 kms from here on Saturday afternoon."

2. the upcoming festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.
Each year the end and highlight of this festival is a procession with all the Ganesh figurines towards the sea or -in Pune's case- river to be immersed. The idea is to gain blessings for all sorts of activities for the following year.

Source:  festivals. iloveindia

Two points of attention:

-originally these statues were made from local clay. (Each year new idols have to be made and immersed by the water.). Local clay being degradable and not contaminating. Nowadays these figurines are made of POP (Plaster of Paris), a non-degradable and polluting material.
Also the paints that are used are toxic.
If you realize that there are about 300.000 statues to be immersed (in India) and that some are gigantic, you can imagine the mess and pollution it creates afterwards.

Source: photos.merinews.com

-secondly there are security issues. Especially since the last series of bombings in Pune, 4 weeks ago, and the recent racial/ethnic conflicts and tension in Pune and other areas. It's not hard to imagine that on a day like Ganesh Chatruthi, when big masses of people are gathered, security is as important as it is difficult.

This person is making 'green' idols.

Governments try to promote or even instigate using 'green' idols.

From the news:

"In Chennai, over 1,000 people from the northeast were reported to have taken trains out of the city.  Gripped by fear over their safety following sporadic attacks targeting those from the northeast in Pune, several hundred people from the region living in Maharashtra have fled to their respective states over the last few days. "
Maharashtra being the state where Pune is located.

Well, we are going to find out for ourselves.....how bad the rains are in and around Delhi next week, wether we will be washed away in Rajasthan next month, and will we be able to enjoy Ganesh Chaturthi here in Pune on the 19th of september?

I will keep you posted, so keep coming back to this blog and read all about it;-)

Have a good day!