This is in response to the article “The Plastic Dumping Menace” By Nitya in the last issue of Samvada. The writer had very rightly pointed out the cruelty “bhakts” carry out on the Peepal trees in the name of devotion.
The Peepal tree holds a very important place in Hindu mythology. It is said that Lord Vishnu resides in the Peepal tree and offerings are often made to the Peepal tree to please Lord Shani or to resolve doshas in the kundli. But it seems the very people who worship it do not care for it. They do worship the tree and often give offerings and light lamps but never clean those after the pooja. Also it is noticed that people often leave old and broken idols, pots, chunnis, paintings and photos of gods etc. beneath the trees instead of giving them a proper disposal. Also people while lighting diyas beneath the Peepal tree keep it so close to the trunk of the tree that many times the trunk gets burnt thus slowly harming the tree. The Peepal tree along with its importance in mythology is also very important for the environment. It gives out oxygen 24 hours and thus helps in keeping the environment clean but the irony is that the place beneath the Peepal trees is most polluted. Some people put oil in the roots of the trees instead of water as an offering which is very harmful for the tree. A resident of the sector was surprised to find that someone had tied a chunni and lit a diya in the Peepal bonsai kept just outside her house. Sometime back a group of residents including myself organised a drive to collect the idols and waste from under the Peepal trees of the sector and dispose of it properly by segregating the plastic and burying the remaining broken idols and diyas in the ground. People were also sensitised against leaving items beneath the trees but it seems that all of it fell on deaf ears as within a couple of days the garbage was back beneath the Peepal trees.
People are free to follow their rituals and customs but at the same time they have to also take care that the environment, surroundings and the tree itself are not harmed. It is seen that in some sectors of Noida, to tackle this issue, the RWA of that sector has placed signages on Peepal trees in the sector requesting residents not to leave broken idols and plastic waste beneath the peepal trees.
