Socio-psychological study behind idol and religious waste immersion-A Case Study in Delhi, India

Rivers and water bodies in cities receive various kinds of pollutants including religious waste which include flowers, clothes, pigments used for beautification, decorative, ornaments, plaster of Paris, bamboo sticks and various other articles especially during idol immersion after big festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga puja. Apart from big specific festivals, hundreds of kilos of religious waste are generated every day at various religious places in Delhi and most of these are disposed off in the local water bodies which are detrimental to the water quality. These add to pollution of the water system (Giripunje et al. 2014, Shahenshah et. al 2011) both surface and the ground water. This affects the aquatic life (Farkas et al. 2003), pass into the food chain from fish to human beings and have a particular significance in eco-toxicology (Reddy et al. 2001). Human health is affected in various ways (Ujjania et al.2011).
Socio-psychology plays a major role behind these activities as people are afraid not to dispose off religious waste in more environment friendly ways and not to reuse such materials in the first place which affect ecosystem consequently aquatic life and human health adversely. A socio-psychological study behind idol and religious waste immersion was carried out in Delhi during the year 2014.