Homa-havana vs sanitisation drive in Belagavi

Veer Madakari Gharjana Sangha members and supporters of MLA Satish Jarkiholi sanitise an area at Hosur on Tuesday, where the homa-havana was held. DH photo

BJP MLA Abhay Patil’s initiative of conducting a ritual of homa-havana in every lane of Belgaum South Assembly constituency to clean the environs during the second wave of Covid-19 took a political turn on Tuesday.

Supporters of KPCC working president and MLA Satish Jarkiholi, under the banner of Veera Madakari Gharjana Sangha, conducted a sanitisation drive in the same lanes where the homa-havana ritual was held.

On Monday, Abhay Patil, along with his supporters, launched the homa-havana ritual from Baswan Galli in Hosur where he resides. The ritual was conducted at 50 places in Belgaum South Assembly constituency. Various material such as cow-dung, camphor, neem leaves, cloves, ghee, guggal, loban, and others were used for homa-havana. A container-like pushcart was used for the ritual.

To counter the ritual, activists of Veera Madakari Gharjana Sangha conducted a sanitisation drive on Tuesday in the same lanes where the homa-havana was held. Sangha activists said: “We are not aware of the benefits of homa-havana and its impact on Covid-19, but sanitisation will clean the area by killing the virus. We are conducting sanitisationas per the direction of Satish Jarkiholi.”