Tuesday, September 6 2005 15:39 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Chennai: Claimed to be first of its kind, a 43 feet Lord Vinayaka idol, primarily made out of 1.5 tonnes of automobile waste material, by 104 school students, was unveiled today (Sept 6, 2005).

After seven days of public viewing, the idol would be dismantled and the waste products would be utilised as teaching aids for students, S V Kumar, resource person of the Socially Useful Productive Work (SUPW) scheme, (part of B Ed course) and Manoj, who coordinated the making of the idol, told PTI.

Kumar, who was also the resource person for the famous Lotus temple in New Delhi, said it took 114 hours to construct the idol and the automobile parts, valued at about Rs 5.3 lakh, was sponsored by a city-based private company.

Kumar and Manoj said materials used for making the idol included car cushions, fur materials, cylinders, dustbin, white tissue sheets, cotton roll pipes, side beading, gunny bags, used cricket mats and coir mats.

They said their aim was to spread the message that waste materials could also be productively used.