The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to set up nirmalya treatment plants in every ward of the city to avoid water pollution during the Ganpati festival this year.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to set up nirmalya treatment plants in every ward of the city to avoid water pollution during the Ganpati festival this year.
Nirmalya is the floral offerings given to the God. However, they are also proving to be one of the major sources of water pollution. During Ganpati and Navratri festival, a lot of this nirmalya is collected from all parts of the city. It is collected and then carried to civic vermin-composting plants, where manure is produced in a month’s period. The manure is used for trees in municipal gardens, said civic officials. Currently, there are only two nirmlalya treatm ent plants — at Borivali and Dharavi — in the city. At Borivali, the compost is produced from the nirmalya collected from across the city, whereas the Dharavi plant produces compost by treating waste flowers.
In a notice of motion, senior Shiv Sena corporator Ramakant Rahate had demanded that the BMC should set up kalashas (metal pot) in every chowk in the city to collect nirmalya. In its reply, the civic administration has said that though it is not possible to set up kalashas in every chowk of the city, the nirmalya treatment plants can be set up in every ward with the help of private partnership.
“The BMC is planning to collect nirmalya from the religious places, crematoriums and domestic floral offerings and treat it at these plants,” said a senior civic official.
During last year’s Ganpati festival, 685 tonnes of nirmalya was collected.
