The week-long Bandra Fair, also known as Mount Mary Fair, which kicks off today, is going that extra mile to make it eco-friendly. This year, the church authority has decided to reduce the plastic waste and thermocol waste during the fair and spread the message of environmental sustainability.

Over 120 stalls have been installed in and around the Mount Mary’s Basilica in Bandra for the week-long affair. On Thursday, a senior functionary from the Church urged the stall owners to reduce the use of plastic this year during the fair.

The Church has been taking baby steps towards environmental friendly offering for the past few months. It is a belief that if you want to make a wish come true, offer a replica of that item to Mother Mary.

Devotees who come with thermocol items related to their wish have been stopped by the church authority since past few months.

Speaking about taking smaller steps to go the eco-friendly way, Bishop John Rodrigues, rector of Mount Mary Basilica, said, “Thermocol offering has been banned because of its problematic disposal. A few months ago, we gave a deadline to the stall owners and asked them to stop selling thermocol offering. Now they have started making the offerings with cardboard. So now there is hardly any thermocol offering to Mother Mary.”

He added, “We have requested the stall owners not to sell items in plastic bags. The authority had a meeting with them this week. It is a small step towards reducing the waste and celebrate it in an eco-friendly way.”

By next year, they are planning to take a step forward by composting the flower offerings with the help of an NGO. “We have a small composting plant in the premises, but it can’t be used to compost a huge bulk of flowers which is offered during the week-long fair. From the next year, we might be able to recycle the flowers. An NGO has shown interest in taking away the flowers for recycling,” he added.

Besides the eco-friendly initiative, this year the authority has taken care of safety measures of the devotees visiting Mount Mary’s Basilica for the fair. A ramp for physically challenged devotees which was temporarily constructed last year has been constructed permanently for their convenience.

Apart from this, the Mumbai police, traffic police and, private security, volunteers from the community have come forward to provide safety for the devotees.

BABY STEPS
Thermocol offerings that were popular among devotees have been prohibited in the Church. They have been replaced by cardboard offerings.

Next year, the church authorities are planning to take a step forward by composting the flower offerings with the help of an NGO.

(dnaindia)