Irony dies thousand deaths: Hindu body begins burning mango wood to curb pollution

Meerut: In Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, around 350 Brahmins from Varanasi on Sunday have begun to burn 500 quintals of mango wood for nine days to “reduce pollution”. Members of Shri Ayutchandi Mahayagya Samiti will carry out a ‘mahayagya’ with 108 hawan kunds (fire pits). Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) have refused to intervene due to the involvement of religion.

The regional officer of UPPCBR K Tyagi said, “Burning such large quantities of wood will definitely cause pollution. But there is no policy under which a probe can be issued in this matter — so there is little that we can do. It will also be inappropriate for me to comment on the event.”

With the sun rising to emit more heat, these Brahmins in saffron performed the ‘mahayagya’ around the fire pits. The people involved in the ‘purification’, kept burning the shudhh desi ghee and mango wood with watery and bloodshot eyes, as a result, of the smoke coming out of their kunds.

“We bought mango wood to be burnt after pouring ghee made of cow milk in all the 108 hawan kunds. In Hinduism, it is believed that yagya leads to purification of air. There is no scientific evidence to it because no research has been done so far. City residents will see purer air once the yagya is complete,” said Girish Bansal, vice president of the outfit.

The committee has also distributed pamphlets for getting aids such as; 100 quintals of black sesame seeds, 60 quintals of rice, 30 quintals of barley and 150 ghee boxes.

Justifying the practice of burning mango wood, the president of the group, Gyanendra Agarwal said, “Mango wood burnt after pouring pure ghee does not cause pollution. We are also adding sesame seeds, rice and barley to aid the purification process. According to a scientific report, the Ozone layer above our country is the least damaged because of frequent yagyas.”